Wardship

n. guardianship, custodianship; state of being under the legal guardianship of someone

Ward may refer to:Ward (law), someone placed under the protection of a legal guardianWard (politics), an electoral district or unit of local governmentWard (country subdivision)Wards of the United KingdomWards of the United StatesWards of JapanWard (mechanical lock mechanism), a projecting ridge of metal in a lock casing or keyholeWard (LDS Church), a local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsWard (fencing), a defensive position in the sport of fencingWard (band), an electronica duoMontgomery Ward, a defunct U.S. department store chainInner or Outer Wards, sections of a Concentric castleUSS Aaron Ward (DD-132), a US Navy destroyerUSS Aaron Ward (DD-483), a US Navy destroyerUSS Aaron Ward (DM-34), a US Navy destroyer
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Ward 1. a large room in a hospital for the accommodation of several patients. 2. a division within a hospital for the care of numerous patients [more]Wardship - Community and Resources

(n.)
The state of begin under a guardian; pupilage.
  

(n.)
The office of a ward or keeper; care and protection of a ward; guardianship; right of guardianship.
  

Eng. law. Wardship was the right of the lord over the person and estate of the tenant, when the latter was under a certain age. When a tenant by knight's service died, and his heir was under age, the lord was entitled to the custody of the person and the lands of the heir, without any account, until the ward, if a male, should arrive at the age of twenty-one years, and, if a female, at eighteen. Wardship was also incident to a tenure in socage, but in this case, not the lord, but the nearest relation to whom the inheritance could not descend, was entitled to the custody of the person and estate of the heir till he attained the age of fourteen years; at which period the wardship ceased and the guardian was bound, to account. Wardship in copyhold estates partook of that in chivalry and that guardian like the latter, he was required lib.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.