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:
Jefferson rightly saw himself as the bard of the first stages of our experiment with self-rule.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
One of those under-recognized voices is Michele Serros, Oxnard’s bard of all trades — poet, essayist, scriptwriter, spoken word artist — who died way too young in 2015 at 48.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
Joshua Oppenheimer is our age’s great bard of cognitive dissonance.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
The bard leaped up and splashed across to greet the companions.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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
The singers of the Bard Festival Chorale were a game group, swarming all over the stage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
At Bard SummerScape, Christian Räth directs an enigmatic staging of Richard Strauss’s myth-bending work; led by its new music director, Peter Whelan, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra brought Handel’s opera to Caramoor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
His father, Josh Bard, spent 10 seasons in the major leagues with five teams and is now the Dodgers’ bullpen coach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
“Well, exactly,” said Hermione, now flicking through The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
Before human beings used cameras to tell their stories, before books and bards and cave paintings, probably, there was the movie of the mind, the never-ending picture starring . . . you.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 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
“You can talk about the bards singing your praises all you want,” said Eilonwy.
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
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
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
Compare to the car drawn by four white bulls, the gallant bay charger barded with steel, and caparisoned with cloth of gold.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 357, June, 1845 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
