warden

noun

1. (archaic, literary)A guard or watchman.

   “He called to the wardens on the outside battlements.”

2. A chief administrative officer of a prison.

   “The warden of the state prison, Ezekiel Purdy, was a kind man if stern. He invariably made all newcomers a little speech of welcome […]”

3. An official charged with supervisory duties or with the enforcement of specific laws or regulations; such as a game warden or air-raid warden.
4. A governing official in various institutions

   “the warden of a college”

5. A variety of pear.

   “Faith I would have had him rosted like a warden in a brown Paper, and no more talk on’t:”

   “I must have saffron to colour the warden pies;”

   “In September, come Grapes; Apples; Poppies of all colours; Peaches; Melo-Cotones; Nectarines; Cornelians; Wardens; Quinces.”

   “Wardens, a name given to pears which never melt, are long keeping, and used for cooking only. The name comes from the Cistercian Abbey of Warden in Beds. Parkinson’s Warden is now Black Worcester. There are Spanish, White and Red Wardens.”

verb

1. To carry out the duties of a warden.

name

1. A surname originating as an occupation for a warden.
2. A village and civil parish in south Northumberland, England (OS grid ref NY9166).