Gardening

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*).

Noun

garden (plural gardens)

1. An outdoor area containing one or more types of plants, usually plants grown for food or ornamental purposes. quotations ▼

a vegetable garden

a flower garden

1. 1. (in the plural) Such an ornamental place to which the public have access.

You can spend the afternoon walking around the town gardens.

1. 2. (attributive) Taking place in, or used in, such a garden. quotations ▼

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. quotations ▼
5. (slang) Pubic hair or the genitalia it masks.