bard

See also: Bard, BARD, bárd, bàrd, Bård, bård, and barð

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɑːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɑɹd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)d
• Homophone: barred

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH-

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH-dʰh₁o-der.

Proto-Celtic *bardosder.

Old Irish bard

Scottish Gaelic bàrdder.

English bard

(15th c.) from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, from Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”), and reinforced by Latin bardus, borrowed from Celtic. Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).

Noun

bard (plural bards)

1. A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.
   • 1837, Richard Llwyd, The Poetical Works of Richard Llwyd, the Bard of Snowdon‎^[1]:

     He is a Welsh bard, and a man full of animation, anecdote, and independence; […]

   • 2023, Rundisc, Chants of Sennaar, Focus Entertainment, via Nintendo Switch, level/area: Gardens:

     A WEAPON, THE WARRIOR CARRIES. A SAW, THE IDIOT CARRIES. AN INSTRUMENT, THE BARD CARRIES.

2. (by extension) A poet.

   Shakespeare is known as the bard of Avon.

3. (roleplaying games, fantasy) A class of character that typically focuses on charisma, magic and supporting other players; a fantasy fiction character inspired by this archetype.
   • 2015 August 18, Tim Pratt, Pathfinder Tales: Reign of Stars, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 116:

     I saw a bard work a bit of magic once. He brought up a volunteer from the audience, insulted him in rather colorful fashion, and then made the man forget the insults—and then he did the same trick all over again, twice more.”

   • 2024 January 9, Kristy Boyce, Dungeons and Drama, Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 66:

     "Having a bard would be even less helpful than having a second wizard, " John interjects.

Derived terms

• Bard
• bardcore
• bardcraft
• bardess
• bardic
• bardie
• bardish
• bardism
• bardlet
• bardlike
• bardling
• bardolator
• bardolatry
• bardship

Translations

professional poet and singer — see also minstrel

• Belarusian: бард m (bard)
• Bulgarian: бард m (bard)
• Catalan: bard m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 吟遊詩人 / 吟游诗人 (jam⁴ jau⁴ si¹ jan⁴)

  Mandarin: 詩人 / 诗人 (zh) (shīrén), 吟遊詩人 / 吟游诗人 (zh) (yínyóu shīrén)

• Czech: bard (cs) m
• Danish: barde c
• Dutch: bard (nl) m
• Esperanto: bardo (eo)
• Finnish: runoilija (fi), bardi (fi)
• French: barde (fr) m
• Galician: bardo (gl) m
• Georgian: ბარდი (bardi)
• German: Barde (de) m
• Greek: βάρδος (el) m (várdos)
• Hungarian: bárd (hu), dalnok (hu), énekmondó (hu)
• Irish: bard m
• Italian: aedo (it) m, cantore (it) m, trovatore (it) m, poeta (it) m, vate (it) m
• Japanese: 詩人 (ja) (しじん, shijin), 吟遊詩人 (ja) (ぎんゆうしじん, gin'yū shijin)
• Korean: 시인(詩人) (ko) (siin), 음유시인(吟遊詩人) (ko) (eumyusiin)
• Latgalian: dzīsminīks m
• Latin: bardus m
• Latvian: dziesminieks m, dziesminiece f
• Lithuanian: bardas m
• Macedonian: бард m (bard)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bard (no) m

• Old English: sċop m
• Persian: سراینده (fa) (sorâyande)
• Polish: bard (pl) m
• Portuguese: poeta (pt) m or f, bardo (pt) m
• Russian: бард (ru) m (bard), а́втор-исполни́тель (ru) m (ávtor-ispolnítelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̏рд m

  Latin: bȁrd (sh) m

• Slovak: bard m
• Slovene: bard (sl) m
• Spanish: bardo (es) m
• Sudovian: daininīkas m
• Swahili: malenga (sw)
• Swedish: bard (sv) c
• Telugu: వైతాళికుడు (te) (vaitāḷikuḍu)
• Turkish: ozan (tr), bard
• Ukrainian: бард (uk) m (bard)
• Welsh: bardd (cy) m

Etymology 2

From French barde. English since the late 15th century.

Noun

bard (plural bards)

1. A piece of defensive (or, sometimes, ornamental) armor for a horse's neck, breast, and flanks; a barb. (Often in the plural.)
2. Defensive armor formerly worn by a man at arms.
3. (cooking) A thin slice of fat bacon used to cover any meat or game.
4. The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree; the rind.
5. Specifically, Peruvian bark.

Translations

fat bacon

• Arabic: بَردَعَه
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熏肉片 (xūnròupiàn)

• Finnish: silava (fi)
• Galician: albarda (gl) f
• German: Barde (de) f

Verb

bard (third-person singular simple present bards, present participle barding, simple past and past participle barded)

1. To cover a horse in defensive armor.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 29:

     The defensive armor with which the horses of the ancient knights or men at arms were covered, or, to use the language of the time, barded, consisted of the following pieces made either of metal or jacked leather, the Chamfron, Chamfrein or Shaffron, the Criniere or Main Facre, the Poitrenal, Poitral or Breast Plate, and the Croupiere or Buttock Piece.

2. (cooking) To cover (meat or game) with a thin slice of fat bacon.

Anagrams

• Brad, brad, darb, drab

Catalan

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bard m (plural bards)

1. bard (a professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts)

Further reading

• “bard”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “bard”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “bard” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “bard”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbart]

Noun

bard m anim

1. bard (Celtic poet and singer)
2. (by extension) bard, poet, spokesperson

Declension

Declension of bard (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	bard	bardi
genitive	barda	bardů
dative	bardovi, bardu	bardům
accusative	barda	bardy
vocative	barde	bardi
locative	bardovi, bardu	bardech
instrumental	bardem	bardy

Derived terms

• bardický
• bardský
• bardství

Further reading

• “bard”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “bard”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “bard”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed either from German Barde or English bard. Ultimately from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard, poet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“praise”). Cognate with Latin grātus (“grateful, pleasant, delightful”), Sanskrit गृणाति (gṛṇāti, “calls, praises”), Old Church Slavonic жрьти (žrĭti, “to sacrifice”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑrt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bard
• Rhymes: -ɑrt

Noun

bard m (plural barden, no diminutive)

1. bard, Celtic poet, singer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French bard, from Old French béart, bayart, baiart, boieart, boyart, bayard (“stretcher”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from unattested *berard, from Frankish *berhard (“carrier”), from Frankish *beran (“to carry”) + *-hard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʁ/

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

bard m (plural bards)

1. (dated) a sort of stretcher, with no wheels, used for transporting materials
2. (dated) a sawhorse

Synonyms

• bayard
• (sawhorse): tréteau

Further reading

• “bard”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Irish

Alternative forms

• bárd (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /bˠɑːɾˠd̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /bˠæːɾˠd̪ˠ/

Noun

bard m (genitive singular baird, nominative plural baird)

1. poet (of a certain rank); bard
2. scold

Declension

Declension of bard (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative bard baird vocative a bhaird a bharda genitive baird bard dative bard baird forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an bard na baird genitive an bhaird na mbard dative leis an mbard don bhard leis na baird

Derived terms

• filíocht na mbard (“bardic poetry”)
• Leitir Mhic an Bhaird (“Lettermacaward”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bard

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bard	bhard	mbard

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bard”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bard”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “bárd”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 60

Ludian

Alternative forms

• barde (Pühärv)
• bardu (Suavan Priäž)

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *parta, borrowed from Proto-Balto-Slavic *bardā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂.

Noun

bard

1. beard

Declension

Declension of bard (type 1a/tila, no gradation)
	singular	plural
nominative	bard	bardad
genitive	bardan	bardoiden
partitive	bardad	bardoid
essive	bardan	bardoin
instructive	—	bardoin
inessive	bardas	bardoiš
elative	bardaspiä	bardoišpiä
illative	bardah	bardoihe
adessive	bardal	bardoil
ablative	bardalpiä	bardoilpiä
allative	bardale	bardoile
abessive	bardata	bardoita
prolative	bardači	bardoiči
translative	bardaks	bardoikš
additive	bardahpiä	bardoihepiä
*) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl)

Derived terms

• bardaduda
• bardaine
• bardakaz
• bardankeričend

References

• M. Pahomov (2022), “bard”, in Lüüdi-venän, venä-lüüdin sanakirdʹ‎^[2], Helsinki: Lüüdilaine Siebr, →ISBN, page 21
• Juho Kujola (1944), “bard”, in Lyydiläismurteiden sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 15

Maltese

Root
b-r-d
11 terms

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic بَرْد (bard)

Maltese bard

Inherited from Arabic بَرْد (bard).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bart/
• Rhymes: -art

Noun

bard m (plural brud)

1. chill; chill weather
   • 1949-1952, Anton Buttigieg, “Il-Ħolma tan-Natura”, in Qasba mar-Riħ, published 1977:

     U meta tiġi x-xitwa erħilha teqred
     bir-rxiex, bis-silġ, bil-bard, bir-riħ u rwiefen
     il-ħlejjaq qodma: weraq sfajra u morda,
     u rix mitbiela,

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

See also

• kiesaħ

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish bard, from Proto-Celtic *bardos.

Noun

bard m (genitive singular ?, plural bardyn)

1. bard
2. poet

Synonyms

• bardagh
• bardoonagh

Mutation

Mutation of bard

radical	lenition	eclipsis
bard	vard	mard

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Manx.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Middle English

Noun

bard

1. alternative form of berd

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• barde

Etymology

From Old Norse barð.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːr/, /baːɽ/

Noun

bard m (definite singular barden, indefinite plural bardar, definite plural bardane)

1. an edge, rim, (river)bank

Related terms

• Svalbard

Further reading

• “bard” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “bard” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *bardos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbard̪/

Noun

bard m (genitive baird, nominative plural baird)

1. bard
2. poet

Inflection

Masculine o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	bard	bardL	bairdL
vocative	baird	bardL	barduH
accusative	bardN	bardL	barduH
genitive	bairdL	bard	bardN
dative	bardL	bardaib	bardaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Synonyms

• éices
• fer cerda
• fili
• túar

Descendants

• Irish: bard
• Manx: bard
• Scottish Gaelic: bàrd
  • → English: bard

Mutation

Mutation of bard

radical	lenition	nasalization
bard	bard pronounced with /β-/	mbard

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bard”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbart/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -art
• Syllabification: bard

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French barde, from Latin bardus, from Proto-Celtic *bardos (“bard”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to approve, praise”).

Noun

bard m pers

1. (historical) bard (professional Celtic poet and singer whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men)
2. (by extension) bard, poet, songster

   Synonyms: poeta, piewca, wieszcz

Declension

Declension of bard

	singular	plural
nominative	bard	bardowie
genitive	barda	bardów
dative	bardowi	bardom
accusative	barda	bardów
instrumental	bardem	bardami
locative	bardzie	bardach
vocative	bardzie	bardowie

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

bard n

1. genitive plural of bardo

Further reading

• “bard”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bard”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French barde, from Latin bardus.

Noun

bard m (plural barzi)

1. bard

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bard	bardul	barzi	barzii
genitive-dative	bard	bardului	barzi	barzilor
vocative	bardule		barzilor

Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bard c

1. bard (poet and singer)
2. (physiology, often in the plural) baleen

Declension

Declension of bard

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	bard	bards
	definite	barden	bardens
plural	indefinite	barder	barders
	definite	barderna	bardernas

See also

• diktare
• skald

References

• “bard”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “bard”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “bard”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Veps

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *parta, borrowed from Proto-Balto-Slavic *bardā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂.

Noun

bard

1. beard

Declension

Inflection of bard (inflection type 5/sana)
nominative sing.	bard
genitive sing.	bardan
partitive sing.	bardad
partitive plur.	bardoid
	singular	plural
nominative	bard	bardad
accusative	bardan	bardad
genitive	bardan	bardoiden
partitive	bardad	bardoid
essive-instructive	bardan	bardoin
translative	bardaks	bardoikš
inessive	bardas	bardoiš
elative	bardaspäi	bardoišpäi
illative	bardaha	bardoihe
adessive	bardal	bardoil
ablative	bardalpäi	bardoilpäi
allative	bardale	bardoile
abessive	bardata	bardoita
comitative	bardanke	bardoidenke
prolative	bardadme	bardoidme
approximative I	bardanno	bardoidenno
approximative II	bardannoks	bardoidennoks
egressive	bardannopäi	bardoidennopäi
terminative I	bardahasai	bardoihesai
terminative II	bardalesai	bardoilesai
terminative III	bardassai	—
additive I	bardahapäi	bardoihepäi
additive II	bardalepäi	bardoilepäi