Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The chief administrative official of a prison.
- n. An official charged with the enforcement of certain laws and regulations: an air raid warden.
- n. Chiefly British The chief executive official in charge of a port or market.
- n. Chiefly British Any of various crown officers having administrative duties.
- n. Chiefly British One of the governing officials of certain colleges, schools, guilds, or hospitals; a trustee.
- n. The chief executive of a borough in certain states.
- n. A churchwarden.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In Australia, a government officer, with magisterial and executive powers, in charge of a gold-field.
- n. In freemasonry, one of the officers of a lodge.
- n. A guard or watchman; a guardian.
- n. A chief or principal keeper; an officer who keeps or guards: as, the warden of the Fleet (or Fleet prison).
- n. The title given to the head of some colleges and schools, and to the superior of some conventual churches.
- n. In Connecticut boroughs, the chief executive officer of the municipal government; in a few Rhode Island towns, a judicial officer. In colonial times the name was sometimes used in place of fire-warden or fire-ward.
- n. A kind of pear, used chiefly for roasting or baking.
Wiktionary
- n. archaic or literary A guard or watchman.
- n. A chief administrative officer of a prison
- n. An official charged with supervisory duties or with the enforcement of specific laws or regulations; such as a game warden or air raid warden
- n. A governing official in various institutions
- n. archaic, slang A variety of pear, thought to be Black Worcester or Parkinson's Warden.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A keeper; a guardian; a watchman.
- n. An officer who keeps or guards; a keeper.
- n. A head official; ; specifically (Eccl.), a churchwarden.
- n. obsolete A large, hard pear, chiefly used for baking and roasting.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the chief official in charge of a prison
Etymologies
- From Middle English wardein, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French wardein, from warder ("to guard"), variant of Old French guarder ("to guard") (whence modern French garder, also English guard), from Proto-Germanic *ward-; related to Old High German wartēn ("to watch"). Compare guardian, French gardien, from Old French. Cf. also reward. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English wardein, from Old North French, from warder, to guard, of Germanic origin; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I have always loved David Wain, so hearing him as the warden is a real treat.”
Gavin Goes To Harlancore! Pt 1 « Giant Killer Squid - Film, Comics, News, Reviews and more
“If the warden is an understanding you could just as easily keep the deer as get it cofiscated.”
“I know my local game warden is worked to death and many times does not have the resources to investigate all of the calls that he gets.”
“We get out of the truck discussing whether the game warden is ready for just such a stunt? do they really care when it comes to squirrels?”
Anyone got a humorous hunting story that is as of yet untold? Here's my latest.
“What game warden is not going to come up and check it anyway.”
“How about if I dress up as a mean warden from a Southern prison, would that get you all hot and bothered little guy?”
“If a game warden is one to three days away, if they are even four to six HOURS away and noone is injured but the bear is dead.”
“I pray that the warden is or has healed from his injuries.”
“As for the night stalkers, game warden is on alert now, with decoy deer around.”
“It certainly will result in warden reporting you as a cheater.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘warden’.
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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phrontistery-w
from phrontistery.info
wack, wadmal, waftage, wafture, wagonette, wagtail, wainage, wainscot, wair, waits, wakerife, waldflute and 282 more...
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Anglo-Norman
English words of Norman-French origin.
wage, wait, war, wicket, warranty, guarantee, guard, warden, guardian, glamour, grammar, catch and 30 more...
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Unfamiliar Words
dank, refrain, hostage, frigid, warden, atrocious, squirm, kinship, riot, counterfeit, stamped, scaffolding and 59 more...
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November Words 11849
kami, nighongi, tenrikyo, gagaku, izanami, analects, shu, xigo-filial, tora, izanagi, russet, warden and 8 more...
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Odd Anagrams
Sets of anagrams that have contrasting or related meanings.
casual, causal, parental, paternal, prenatal, atoners, senator, treason, listen, silent, dictionary, indicatory and 110 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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frequent toefl
Words that I do not know or unsure for toefl
appurtenances, aptitude, arbitrary, arboretum, argot, arrears, avocation, avuncular, badger, bait, warden, bane and 428 more...
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storylined's Words
nephilim, prophecy, demigod, storylined, covenant, immemorial, vespertine, twilight, gloaming, warden, freebooter, mockingbird and 2 more...
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Honorifics
emperor, empress, king, queen, monarch, prince, princess, admiral, general, herald, warden, patriarch and 68 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL W
wallow, wan, wane, wanton, warden, wary, wastrel, watershed, wayfaring, waylay, weave, wend and 10 more...
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Ecclesiastical Miscellanea
Obscure but not obsolete church words. I'm an Episcopal priest, so my knowledge is largely in the Anglican world, but I'm guessing there's a rich diversity of vocabulary particular to churches. Als...
pyx, aumbry, predella, cincture, nave, narthex, esonarthex, sacristy, vestry, alb, chasuble, croizer and 13 more...
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In Dreams
Words that stood out to me in dreams.
Tweets
Looking for tweets for warden.

agustinolvera Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer pg. 224
"Is he your warden, now to?." Dec 2, 2010
brightshade I was once Junior Warden at an Episcopal church -- much to the amusement of local law enforcement, who thought it was the silliest title ever. while the attached definition (who gets to make these?), the job is not only in law enforcement.
Here's the Oxford American English Dictionary definition; what with it's English roots, it gives more weight to the Anglican role of wardens:
a person responsible for the supervision of a particular place or thing or for ensuring that regulations associated with it are obeyed : the warden of a local nature reserve | an air-raid warden.
• the head official in charge of a prison.
• a churchwarden.
• Brit. the head of certain schools, colleges, or other institutions.
DERIVATIVES
wardenship |-ˌ sh ip| |ˈwɔrdnˈʃɪp| noun
ORIGIN Middle English (originally denoting a guardian or protector): from Anglo-Norman French and Old Northern French wardein, variant of Old French guarden ‘guardian.’ Jun 7, 2009