bawd

American  

[bawd] / bɔd /

noun

Archaic.

1. a woman who maintains a brothel; madam.

2. a prostitute.

3. a procuress.

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bawd British  

/ bɔːd /

noun

1. a person who runs a brothel, esp a woman

2. a prostitute

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Etymology

Origin of bawd

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English bawde, noun use of Middle French baude, feminine of baud “jolly, dissolute,” from West Germanic; compare Old English bald bold

Example Sentences

“The impudence of a bawd is modesty compared with that of a convert,” said George Savile, the first marquess of Halifax.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

Words such as scold, shrew, termagent, witch, harlot, bawd, and tramp were all at one point in their histories terms for men; furthermore, the terms were usually neutral and sometimes even adulatory.

From Salon • May 11, 2013

Best of all is the wonderful, pivotal scene in which Tilly Tremayne's well-judged, shrewd widow takes on Harriet Walter's glittering bawd at chess.

From The Guardian • May 1, 2010

As the hero, Albert Finney makes Olde England jolly indeed, and Hugh Griffith richly earns bed and bawd in a rakehell portrayal of Squire Western.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yea mary may it; for Beauty may transforme Honesty, from what she was into a bawd: Then Honesty can transforme Beauty: This was sometimes a Paradox, But now the time giues it scope.

From The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke The First ('Bad') Quarto by Shakespeare, William