Bearward
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Someone who handles and keeps bears (and sometimes other animals such as apes and bulls), especially for use in public entertainments such as baiting or dancing displays; a bearherd. UK, historical
"But now how many men are there proude of that that is not theyrs at al? Is there no man proude of keping another mannes gate? […] [W]hat a brag-kyng maketh a beareward wͭ [with] his ſyluer buttened bawdrike, for pride of another mannes bere?"
Example
More examples"But now how many men are there proude of that that is not theyrs at al? Is there no man proude of keping another mannes gate? […] [W]hat a brag-kyng maketh a beareward wͭ [with] his ſyluer buttened bawdrike, for pride of another mannes bere?"
Etymology
From Middle English bereward (“someone who handles and keeps bears, bear keeper”), from ber, bere (“bear”) + ward, warde (“care, keeping”). By surface analysis, bear + ward.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.