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Main definitions of bard in English

: bard1bard2

bard1

noun

  • 1archaic, literary A poet, traditionally one reciting epics and associated with a particular oral tradition.

    ‘our national bard, Robert Burns’
    • ‘On a dozen axes of values, then, there is a deep congruity, much of it reflecting the influence of the archaic epic bard on the nineteenth-century novelist.’
    • ‘These two kinds of periodicity may coincide, as in carefully end-stopped lines, or in the formulae chosen over centuries by the bards of oral traditions.’
    • ‘From 1808 to 1834 Moore continued to add to his Irish Melodies, which established him as the national bard of Ireland.’
    • ‘Even two centuries ago, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing scoffed that the bard was perhaps more praised than perused.’
    • ‘In the past, Karakalpak bards (performing poets) roamed from village to village, reciting stories and verses.’
    poet, versifier, verse-maker, rhymester, rhymer, sonneteer, lyricist, lyrist, elegist
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1the Bard" or "the Bard of AvonShakespeare.
      poet, versifier, verse-maker, rhymester, rhymer, sonneteer, lyricist, lyrist, elegist
      View synonyms
    2. 1.2The winner of a prize for Welsh verse at an Eisteddfod.
      ‘he was admitted as a Bard at the National Eisteddfod’
      • ‘The Crowning of the Bard is one of the most important events in an eisteddfod’
      • ‘Eisteddfod literally means a sitting (eistedd = to sit), perhaps a reference to the hand-carved chair traditionally awarded to the best poet in the ceremony 'The Crowning of the Bard'.’
      • ‘Today the term 'bard' in Wales means the victor at an eisteddfod, whether in poetry or music.’

Origin

Middle English from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, Welsh bardd, of Celtic origin. In Scotland in the 16th century it was a derogatory term for an itinerant musician, but was later romanticized by Sir Walter Scott.

Pronunciation

bard

/bɑːd/

Main definitions of bard in English

: bard1bard2

bard2

noun

  • A rasher of fat bacon placed on meat or game before roasting.

verb

[with object]

  • Cover (meat or game) with rashers of fat bacon.

    ‘the venison was barded and marinated’
    • ‘To bard meat, you cover the meat with a thin layer of fat or fatty bacon and secure with butcher’s string.’
    • ‘Pork or other fat can be used to bard meat.’
    • ‘To bard meat, simply lay strips of fat over the surface, or use kitchen string to tie on the fat.’
    • ‘One is to bard meat with fat (cover it with strips of fat, usually pork fatback), an outdated practice but one still taught in cooking schools.’

Origin

Early 18th century from French barde, a transferred sense of barde ‘armour for the breast and flanks of a warhorse’, based on Arabic barḏa'a ‘saddlecloth, padded saddle’.

Pronunciation

bard

/bɑːd/