Nearby Words

-ard

Origin

-ard

a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative: coward; dullard; drunkard; wizard.
Also, -art.


Origin:
Middle English < Old French, probably extracted from Frankish compound personal names; compare Old High German Adalhart (French Alard), Bernhart (French Bernard), with 2nd element -hart literally, strong, hardy, hard (cognate with Old English -heard in names), often merely as intensifier of quality denoted in 1st element.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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-ard is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Collins
World English Dictionary
-ard or -art
 
suffix forming nouns
indicating a person who does something, esp to excess, or is characterized by a certain quality: braggart; drunkard; dullard
 
[via Old French from Germanic -hard (literally: hardy, bold), the final element in many Germanic masculine names, such as Bernhard Bernard, Gerhart Gerard, etc]
 
-art or -art
 
suffix forming nouns
 
[via Old French from Germanic -hard (literally: hardy, bold), the final element in many Germanic masculine names, such as Bernhard Bernard, Gerhart Gerard, etc]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

-ard
also -art, from O.Fr. -ard, -art, from Ger. -hard, -hart "hardy," often forming the second element in personal names, used as an intensifier, but in M.H.G. and Du. used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into M.E. in bastard,
EXPAND
coward, etc. It thus became a living element in English, e.g. buzzard, drunkard.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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