lifeguard

Meaning

Noun

• A bodyguard or unit of bodyguards, a guard of someone's (especially a king's) life or person.
• An attendant, usually an expert swimmer, employed to save swimmers in trouble or near drowning at a body of water.
• A lifesaver.
• A sturdy metal bracket fixed in front of each of the leading wheels of a train to deflect small objects away from the wheels to prevent derailment.

Origin

• life + guard, , where life has the sense of lijf hence bodyguard. Compare German Leibgarde ("bodyguard"), Danish livgarde ("bodyguard"), Swedish livgarde ("bodyguard"). Compare also Old English līfweard ("guardian of life").