sward

Etymology 1

soldiers laying down pieces of sward (sense 1) or sod for a Habitat for Humanity project to build homes in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.]] The noun is derived from Middle English sward (“rind; skin; calloused skin; leather strap; sod, turf”) [and other forms], from Old English sweard, swearð (“rind; skin”), from Proto-Germanic *swarduz (“rind; tough skin; turf”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the noun.

noun

1. (uncountable) Earth which grass has grown into the upper layer of; greensward, sod, turf; (countable) a portion of such earth.
2. (countable) An expanse of land covered in grass; a lawn or meadow.
3. (countable, obsolete) The upper layer of the ground, especially when vegetation is growing on it.
4. (countable, obsolete except Britain, dialectal) The rind of bacon or pork; also, the outer covering or skin of something.

verb

1. (transitive) To cover (ground, etc.) with sward.
2. (intransitive) Of ground, etc.: to be covered with sward; to develop a covering of sward.
   [Land...] will not sward again […] 1644, Gabriel Plattes, in a letter in Hartlib's Legacy (1655), page 236
   […] for the ground immediately after corn is many years before it swards, and […] 1765, Thomas Hamilton Haddington, A Short Treatise on Forest-trees, page 45
   ... with soil of a similar character, several fields have been laid down and ploughed up again under the old plea that they will not sward. 1891, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Professional Notes, volume 5, page 256

Etymology 2

From a blend of sword + pardner.

noun

1. (Philippines) A homosexual man.