The story
- Dutch · calque oflijfgarde
- English todaylifeguard
From life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.