To guard or protect; to keep watch over something.
From 'be-' (causative prefix) + 'guard' (from Old French 'garde,' meaning 'to keep watch'). This is an archaic or rare formation, though it follows standard English word-building patterns.
Many 'be-' verbs from Middle English have simply died out of use—'beguard' was once as natural as saying 'to guard,' but we eventually just dropped the 'be-' prefix because it felt redundant.
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