Meanings
woodward1
plural woodwards
- archaicA warden of a wood.
And he is not a comely man, but on the contrary he is exceedingly ill favoured; and he is the woodward of that wood.
1902, The Mabinogion Vol. 1 (of 3)1 more example
A sergeantry, called woodward of the Lee Baile, was then held by John Throckmorton, Esq. In the reign of Henry VIII. the office of Bleysbale and forestership of fee was filled by William Alberton.
1858, H. G. Nicholls, The Forest of Dean
Woodward2
- A surname.
- A small city in Dallas County, Iowa, United States.
- A city, the county seat of Woodward County, Oklahoma, United States.
- Three townships, in Clearfield County, Clinton County and Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
Origin
woodward · noun
- Old Englishwuduweard
- Middle Englishwodeward
- Englishwoodward
Inherited from Middle English wodeward, from Old English wuduweard; equivalent to wood + ward.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
woodward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woodward
“woodward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woodward. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “woodward,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/woodward.
Source: woodward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.