bawd

B3A1W4D2
UK/bɔːd/US/bɔd/cot caught merger/bɑd/

noun

One who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.

Similar
brothelkeeperpimpprocurerprocuressprostitutecocottewhoreharlot
OriginMiddle English bawde ← Old French baud ← Frankish *balþ →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounbawd (plural bawds)

plural bawds · alternative baud · alternative baude

  1. archaichistoricalOne who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.

    As Whores decay'd and past their Labours, / Turn Bawds, and so assist their Neighbours.

    1717, Ned Ward, British Wonders
    3 more examples

    Of late in the Park, a fair fancy was seen / Betwixt an old Baud and a lusty young Quean, / Their parting of Money began the uproar, / I'll have half says the Baud, but you shan't says the Whore

    1709, Wit and mirth: or, Pills to Purge Melancholy; Being a Choice Collection of the best Merry Ballads […] , Second Edition edition, volume IV, London: William Pearson, page 18

    […] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoſo's; […]

    1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 301

    Compared with their opponents, bawds and their associates increasingly had deeper pockets and greater confidence in manipulating the law.

    2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 76
  2. broadlyobsoleteA person who facilitates an immoral act, especially one of a sexual nature.

    In ſaying this thou wrongſt me Gaueſton, / Iſt not enough that thou corrupts my Lord, / And art a Bawd to his affections, / But thou muſt call mine honour thus in queſtion?

    1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I]
  3. A lewd person.
adjectivebawd (comparative more bawd, superlative most bawd)

comparative more bawd · superlative most bawd · alternative baud · alternative baude

  1. obsoleteJoyous; riotously gay.
verbbawd (third-person singular simple present bawds, present participle bawding, simple past and past participle bawded)

present singular third person bawds · participle present bawding · participle past bawded · past bawded · alternative baud · alternative baude

  1. archaicTo procure women for lewd purposes.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
brothelkeeperpimpprocurerprocuress

nouna woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money

Similar
prostitutecocottewhoreharlottartcyprianfancy womanworking girlsporting ladylady of pleasurewoman of the street
Broader
womanadult female
Also see
abbessbrothelkeepercocottecyprianharlotlady of pleasuremadamprostitutesporting ladytartwhorewoman of the streetworking girl

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰóltos
  3. Proto-Germanic*balþaz
  4. Frankish*balþ
  5. Old Frenchbaud
  6. Middle Englishbawde
  7. Englishbawd

From Middle English bawde, baude, from Old French baud (“bold, lively, jolly, gay”). Doublet of bold. An association with Welsh bawddyn (“dirty fellow, scoundrel”), from baw (“dirt”), was suggested by the Rev. Henry Todd.

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian сутеньо́р, сво́дник
  • сутеньо́р (sutenjór)one who keeps a brothel or procures women for prostitution — see also pimp, procurer, madam
  • сво́дник (svódnik)one who keeps a brothel or procures women for prostitution — see also pimp, procurer, madam
  • развра́тник (razvrátnik)a lewd person
  • развра́тница (razvrátnica)a lewd person
  • кико́тещ се (kikótešt se)joyous; riotously gay.
  • ки́скащ се (kískašt se)joyous; riotously gay.
  • сутеньо́рствам (sutenjórstvam)to procure women for lewd purposes
  • сво́днича (svódniča)to procure women for lewd purposes

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with bawd

broadfraudabroadClaudeflawedapplaudmaudbaudMaudedefraudawedclawedlaudoverbroadpawedgaudbelaudmaraudpitcher-bawdplaud
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

baudboardbored (non-rhotic)baudboardbored (non-rhotic)baudboardbored (non-rhotic)
Cite this entry
APA

bawd. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bawd

MLA

“bawd.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bawd. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bawd,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bawd.

Source: bawd on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.