Garda

//ˈɡɑɹdə// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of Garda. Ireland, alt-of

    "A garda was ambling towards us."

  2. 2
    A member of the Gardaí: an Irish national police officer

    "Garda Michael Egan"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of Garda. Ireland, alt-of, in-plural, often

    "He said gardaí had responded professionally to “thuggish violence” in the area and those arrested would be “charged, named and dealt with relentlessly” by the criminal justice system."

  2. 2
    Synonym of Gardaí, the national police force of the Republic of Ireland.

Synonyms

All synonyms
old bill'ralescobblercopcopperecilop

Example

More examples

"Irish police officers are called gardaí."

Etymology

From Irish Garda (“guardian”), from Irish Garda Síochána (“Guardian of the Peace”) and Garda Síochána na hÉireann (“Guardian of the Peace of Ireland”) after the model of the French Third Republic's civilian French gardiens de la paix, from Old French guarde, from guarder (“to guard”), from Frankish *wardēn, from Proto-Germanic *wardāną. Doublet of guard, guardian, and warden.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.