garden

Etymology

From Middle English gardyn, garden, from Anglo-Norman gardin, from Frankish *gardō (“fenced-in yard, garden”), from Proto-Germanic *gardô, *gardaz, whence also inherited English yard. The final -in derives either from the Frankish inflected form *gardin or is a Romance diminutive of *gard (compare Old French jart alongside jardin, Medieval Latin gardinus). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian gard, Low German Goorn, Dutch gaard, gaarde, German Garten, French jardin, Spanish jardín, Italian giardino, Sicilian jardinu.

noun

1. An outdoor area containing one or more types of plants, usually plants grown for food or ornamental purposes.
   1. (in the plural) Such an ornamental place to which the public have access.
      You can spend the afternoon walking around the town gardens.
   2. (attributive) Taking place in, or used in, such a garden.
      a garden party
      a garden path
      a garden spade
2. (Britain, Ireland, Appalachia) The grounds at the front or back of a house.
   This house has a swimming pool, a tent, a swing set and a fountain in the garden.
   We were drinking lemonade and playing croquet in the garden.
   Our garden is overgrown with weeds.
3. (cartomancy) The twentieth Lenormand card.
4. (figurative) A cluster; a bunch.
   Behind the tangled garden of microphones that had sprouted on the lectern, Goldwater spoke softly and casually about his family. 1965, Charles McDowell, Campaign Fever: The National Folk Festival, from New Hampshire to November, 1964, Morrow, page 11
5. (slang) Pubic hair or the genitalia it masks.
   Blow on my garden [speaking of her genitalia], so the spices of it may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden [her pubic area] and eat His pleasant fruits. 1995, Lee Tyler, Biblical Sexual Morality and What About Pornography? viewed at etext.org on 9 May 2006
   N.B. From a commentary on Song of Solomon 4:16, which was written in Hebrew c. 950 BC; book footnotes are shown here within brackets. Many scholars disagree with this Biblical interpretation, which is included as evidence of the word's usage in 1995 rather than the intended meaning of Biblical Hebrew גַּן (gan) in 950 BC.
   c. 2004, Hair Care Down There, Inc, The History of Hair Removal viewed at haircaredownthere.com on 9 May 2006 - Primping and pruning the secret garden might seem like a totally 21st century concept, but the fact is women have gotten into below-the-belt grooming since before the Bronze Age.

verb

1. (intransitive, chiefly Canada, US) To grow plants in a garden; to create or maintain a garden.
   I love to garden—this year I'm going to plant some daffodils.
2. (intransitive, cricket) Of a batsman, to inspect and tap the pitch lightly with the bat so as to smooth out small rough patches and irregularities.

adj

1. Common, ordinary, domesticated.