A person employed to tend hedges and fences, or an officer in medieval times responsible for maintaining enclosures and protecting crops from animals.
From Old English 'hægweard,' combining 'hæg' (hedge/enclosure) and 'weard' (guardian/keeper). This was a real job title in medieval England.
Haywards were the unsung heroes of medieval farming—they had to keep complicated systems of hedges and fences intact to prevent farm animals from destroying everyone's crops in shared agricultural spaces!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.