A guardian or keeper of a byway or secondary area; a watchman of side routes or lesser passages.
Compound of 'by-' and 'ward' (Old English 'weard', meaning guardian or keeper). This term refers to someone responsible for maintaining or guarding byways.
In medieval castles and towns, 'bywards' were security staff for the less important exits and passages—basically the ancient version of security camera angles that villains always forget about in heist movies!
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