guardia

See also: Guardia and guàrdia

Italian

Alternative forms

• (archaic, literary) guarda

Etymology

From guardare, of Germanic origin, possibly corresponding to Frankish *warda or Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰 (wardja), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, notice, give heed”). Compare French garde, Spanish guarda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡwar.dja/
• Rhymes: -ardja
• Hyphenation: guàr‧dia

Noun

guardia f (plural guardie)

1. guard (all senses)
   • c. 1500, Leonardo da Vinci, “Schizzi d'architettura civile e militare”, in G. Fumagalli, editor, Leonardo Prosatore, scelta di scritti Vinciani, Milan: Albrighi, published 1915, →OCLC, page 254:

     Una sola guardia guarda, sanza muoversi, tutto il castello di dentro e di fori, la quale si de’ scambiare ogni tre ore.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. watch, guard duty, sentry duty

Derived terms

• cambio della guardia
• guardia del corpo
• guardia medica
• guardia svizzera
• guardiano
• montare la guardia (to have the watch)

Descendants

• → Afar: wardiyá
• → Polish: gwardia
  • → Belarusian: гва́рдыя (hvárdyja)
  • → Ukrainian: гва́рдія (hvárdija)
• → Russian: гва́рдия (gvárdija)

Further reading

• guardia in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• guardia in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• guàrdia in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• guàrdia in sapere.it – De Agostini Editore
• guardia in Treccani.it – Enciclopedia Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• Pianigiani, Ottorino (1907), “guardia”, in Vocabolario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Rome: Albrighi & Segati

Anagrams

• graduai, guardai, rugiada

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• guàrdia (diaeretic spelling)
• vardia (labio-dental orthography)
• guaddia, vaddia (eye dialect, regressive assimilation)

Etymology

Of Germanic origin. Derived possibly from Frankish *warda, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, notice, give heed”). Compare Catalan guàrdia, French garde, Italian guardia, Spanish guarda.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈ(ɡ)waɾ.dja/, [ˈ(ɣ)waɾ.dja], [-d.dja], [-dɪ.a]
• IPA^(key): /ˈvaɾ.dja/, [ˈvaɾ.dja], [-d.dja], [-dɪ.a]
• Rhymes: -aɾdia
• Hyphenation: guàr‧dia

Noun

guardia m or f (plural guardia or guardi)

1. guard (all senses)
2. watch, guard duty, sentry duty

Derived terms

• guardari
• guardatu
• guardianu
• vardari
• vardatu
• vardianu

Descendants

• Sicilian: La Guardia, La Vardia
  • English: Laguardia
  • Italian: La Guardia, Laguardia

See also

• cunfidenti dâ custura
• curnutu e sbirru
• sincalijari
• sinnari
• taliari
• vigghianti

Spanish

Etymology

From Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰 (wardja).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡwaɾdja/ [ˈɡwaɾ.ð̞ja]
• Rhymes: -aɾdja
• Syllabification: guar‧dia

Noun

guardia m (plural guardias)

1. custodian, warden (male)
2. (military) guard, guardsman

   Los guardias no me dejan pasar a ver a mi hermano.

   The guards are not letting me through to see my brother.

Hyponyms

• guardia de seguridad (“security guard”)

Noun

guardia f (plural guardias)

1. watch, guard, guarding, guard duty, sentry duty
2. (military) guard (unit or squad)
3. custody
4. shift (in certain professions such as for medical staff)
5. (martial arts) guard (ground grappling position)

Hyponyms

• guardia civil
• Guardia de Asalto (“Assault Guard”) (Second Spanish Republic)
• guardia de corps (“Garde du Corps”) (French military unit)
• Guardia de Hierro (“Iron Guard”) (Romanian history)
• guardia de honor (“guard of honor, honor guard”) (military, sports)
• Guardia Imperial (“Napoleon's Imperial Guard”) (French history)
• guardia nacional (“national guard”)
• Guardia Pretoriana (“Praetorian Guard”) (Ancient Roman history)
• guardia real (“royal guard”) (in general)
• Guardia Real (“Royal Guard”) (Spain)
• Guardia Suiza (“Swiss Guard”)
• Guardia Suiza Pontificia (“Pontifical Swiss Guard”)
• Guardia Valona (“Walloon guards”) (Belgian & Spanish history)
• Guardia Varega (“Varangian Guard”) (Byzantine Empire)
• vieja guardia (“old guard”)

Derived terms

• bajar la guardia
• cuerpo de guardia
• de guardia
• de juzgado de guardia
• en guardia
• guardia de alba
• guardia de asalto
• guardia de corps
• guardia de honor
• guardia de media
• guardia de prima
• guardia de tráfico
• hacer guardia (“to stand guard”)
• montar guardia (“to stand guard, to keep guard”)
• montar la guardia
• vara de guardia

Related terms

• guarda
• guardar

Descendants

• → Quechua: wardiya
• → Tagalog: guwardiya

Further reading

• “guardia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “guardia”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA