Word.ws English Dictionary

bawd

/bɔːd/US/bɔd/

bawd noun: one who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.

Noun

bawd (plural bawds)

  1. (archaic, historical) One who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.
    • 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 Whore1709, 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
    • As Whores decay'd and past their Labours, / Turn Bawds, and so assist their Neighbours.1717, Ned Ward, British Wonders
  2. (broadly, obsolete) A 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...
  3. A lewd person.

Adjective

bawd (comparative more bawd, superlative most bawd)

  1. (obsolete) Joyous; riotously gay.

Verb

bawd (third-person singular simple present bawds, present participle bawding, simple past and past participle bawded)

  1. (archaic) To procure women for lewd purposes.

bawd meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Sanskrit

bawd in Urdu

بدچلن عورت

bawd in Bengali

পতিতালয়ের রক্ষী, দালাল

bawd in Malayalam

വേശ്യാലയം നടത്തിപ്പുകാരൻ

bawd in Sanskrit

the bawd
कुञ्चिका kuñcikā

Synonyms of bawd

Forms of bawd

Noun
pluralbawds
alternative formbaud
alternative formbaude
Adjective
comparativemore bawd
superlativemost bawd
Verb
third-person singular presentbawds
present participlebawding
past participlebawded
pastbawded

Origin of bawd

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.

Words formed from bawd

Words that rhyme with bawd

11 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bawd

What does bawd mean?
Bawd means one who keeps a brothel, or procures women for prostitution; a procurer or madam.
What is bawd in Urdu?
Bawd in Urdu is بدچلن عورت. See Bawd meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is bawd?
Bawd can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
How do you pronounce bawd?
Bawd is pronounced /bɔːd/ (UK).
What is the plural of bawd?
The plural of bawd is bawds.

Words near bawd in the dictionary

  1. bawble
  2. bawbles
  3. bawcock
  4. bawcocks
  5. Bawcom
  6. bawd
  7. bawded
  8. Bawden
  9. Bawdens
  10. bawdier
  11. bawdies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bawd (page history and authors); bawd (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bawd (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bawd (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कुञ्चिका (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bawd.wav.

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