GUARDIAN

Definitions

1. 1. One who guards, preserves, or secures; one to whom any person or thing is committed for protection, security, or preservation from injury; a warden.
2. 2. One who has, or is entitled to, the custody of the person or property of an infant, a minor without living parents, or a person incapable of managing his own affairs. Of the several species of guardians, the first are guardians by nature. -- viz., the father and (in some cases) the mother of the child. Blockstone. Guardian ad litem ( (Law), a guardian appointed by a court of justice to conduct a particular suit. -- Guardians of the poor, the members of a board appointed or elected to care for the relief of the poor within a township, or district.