bard
noun
(formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like.
bard
1 American
[bahrd]
/ bɑrd /
noun
-
(formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like.
-
one of an ancient Celtic order of composers and reciters of poetry.
-
any poet.
-
the bard, William Shakespeare.
bard
2
American
[bahrd]
/ bɑrd /
Also
barde
noun
-
Armor. any of various pieces of defensive armor for a horse.
-
Cooking. a thin slice of fat or bacon secured to a roast of meat or poultry to prevent its drying out while cooking.
verb (used with object)
-
bards,
present (3rd person singular)
-
barded,
past participle, past
-
barding
present participle
-
Armor. to caparison with bards.
-
Cooking. to secure thin slices of fat or bacon to (a roast of meat or poultry) before cooking.
bard
1
British
/ bɑːd /
noun
-
-
(formerly) one of an ancient Celtic order of poets who recited verses about the exploits, often legendary, of their tribes
-
(in modern times) a poet who wins a verse competition at a Welsh eisteddfod
-
-
archaic any poet, esp one who writes lyric or heroic verse or is of national importance
bard
2
British
/ bɑːd /
noun
-
a piece of larding bacon or pork fat placed on game or lean meat during roasting to prevent drying out
-
an ornamental caparison for a horse
verb
Bard
3
British
/ bɑːd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bardsimple
-
bardssimple
-
have bardedperfect
-
has bardedperfect
-
am bardingprogressive
-
are bardingprogressive
-
is bardingprogressive
-
have been bardingperfect progressive
-
has been bardingperfect progressive
Past
-
bardedsimple
-
had bardedperfect
-
was bardingprogressive
-
were bardingprogressive
-
had been bardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bard1
1400–50; late Middle English < Celtic; compare Irish, Scots Gaelic bard, Welsh bardd, Breton barz < Indo-European *gwrs-do-s singer, akin to Albanian grisha (I) invited (to a wedding)
Origin of bard2
1470–80; < Middle French barde < Southern Italian barda armor for a horse < Arabic bardaʿah packsaddle < Persian pardah covering
Explanation
If you’ve heard the word bard, it was probably in English class. William Shakespeare has been known as "The Bard" since the nineteenth century, but the word has a much older history, and, when it's not capitalized, it simply means "lyric poet." In civilizations without written histories, poets and singers were the ones to spread the word from place to place and across generations. In ancient and medieval Gaelic societies, the professional storytellers were called bards (or bardds, in Wales). Irish bards were part of a chieftain's household, and their job was to record and proclaim the exploits of their lord — although a bard might also compose blistering satires if he was displeased with his employer.
Vocabulary lists containing bard
The Odyssey
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April Vocabulary Words
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Shakespeare
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The brass band pauses, leaving a plaintive solo violin hanging in the air—in Bruch’s description, “an old bard who contemplates a ruined castle and laments the glorious times of old.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
I once had a news director who, in the midst of marital issues, carried a guitar from cubicle to cubicle like the world’s saddest bard.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
They beat themselves up over both of those performances - "jobby" was midfielder John McGinn's description and no bard could have come up with a better description.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
You could play as a hero, a villain, a bard, a craftsman and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
The bard, who had been silent this while, heaved a sorrowful sigh.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
In my classroom, that means turning to the Bard to teach the most important lesson in accounting: recognizing, in the moment, when you are the one taking the first step down the slope.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
They also added Nice defender Melvin Bard and Eintracht Frankfurt forward Jean-Matteo Bahoya on deadline day.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Ms. Hazrat points out that the punctuation of William Shakespeare’s plays seem not to have come from the Bard himself but from the editors, copyreaders, typesetters and publishers who shepherded his manuscripts into finished form.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tapping Travis Scott to play the Bard singing the tales of Odysseus’ exploits, for example, doesn’t merely reframe the role of ancient storytellers and poets as that age’s rappers.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
Sure, she’d tried to crush him with Willie, her magic tree, but Leigh the Bard had also helped him.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
This renders Mr. Bacon’s subtitle inapt: “The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald” has been told and retold by authors and bards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
Wilson found his vocation as a street poet with a group of neighborhood bards known as the Centre Avenue Poets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023
The exploits of Sundiata Keita, a near-mythical figure in the Mande oral tradition, have been passed down by generations of bards.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Leontovych’s more dramatic works emulated the tradition of the Kobzars, the Ukrainian bards and history bearers who accompanied themselves on the bandura, a multistringed plucked instrument similar to a zither.
From New York Times ● May 13, 2022
A harp with a beautiful, sweeping curve was slung from his shoulder, but otherwise he looked nothing at all like the bards Taran had learned about from The Book of Three.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
You’ll note that they’re using both normal cassowaries as well as a twin-mounted fully barded champron-equipped Maximum cassowary with criniere and boiled leather peytral.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 1, 2014
The horse was barded in bronze- colored trappings dyed to match the rider's cloak and emblazoned with the burning tree.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
He rode a coal-black horse barded all in white, with the pure white shield of the Kingsguard strapped to his arm.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
His steel was a deep cobalt, even the blunt momingstar he wielded with such deadly effect, his mount barded in the quartered sun-and-moon heraldry of House Tarth.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
On the turf, sprang gay With his films of blue, No cricket, I'll say, But a warhorse, barded and chanfroned too, The gift of a quixote-mage to his knight, Real fairy, with wings all right.
From An Introduction to the Study of Robert Browning's Poetry by Hiram Corson
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