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What is the term for this, if there is such a term?

For example, if you're a parent, you refer to your offspring as a 'child' and the child refers to you as their 'parent'.

I am asking because I need to have a term for the relationship of a guardian to the child. For a child, they can refer to this person as their 'guardian' but the other way around (guardian to child) doesn't seem to have a term.

What should I call it?

jlevis
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catandmouse
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  • Isn't someone like that a godfather? – Matt Backslash Sep 19 '16 at 10:41
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    @MattBackslash No. The institution of godparents is a purely religious one, though it may have bearing on legal guardianship, or be used as a way for parents to designate who they desire to take legal guardianship in the event of their deaths. – HopelessN00b Sep 19 '16 at 13:42
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    The correct answer to this question would depend on the nature of the guardianship (ie is it a formal or informal arrangement? is it legally binding? etc), and also the country in which the arrangement has been made, because terms like "foster parent" have different legal meanings in different countries. – Simba Sep 19 '16 at 14:05
  • I wanted to say pupil, but it would require the child either to be orphan and under the charge of the state (not yours), or to be your student rather than a child you raise. – njzk2 Sep 19 '16 at 17:27
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    @HopelessN00b depends on the society. The French term for godfather is "parrain" (religious or civil) (translate as "sponsor"), and the notion of civil sponsor exists, though it does not come with rights or obligations. – njzk2 Sep 19 '16 at 17:30
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    Has the guardian legally adopted the child? If they have, then 'son', 'daughter', 'child' would be fine. You'd just be omitting the "adopted" for brevity. – DCShannon Sep 19 '16 at 20:49
  • A child is a child is a child, no matter who the guardian is -- a parent, or an appointed guardian, etc. > Biologically, a child (plural: children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty.The legal definition of child generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority. - Wikipedia – JAck28 Sep 19 '16 at 16:32
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    Dave points out the legal word is ward; foster child, although less precise, is probably more frequently used. – Michael Lorton Sep 20 '16 at 20:40
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    Maybe just a dependent although that would qualify anyone that is dependent on you. – Darren Bartrup-Cook Sep 22 '16 at 14:41

6 Answers6

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I believe the usual term is 'ward'.

In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. - Wikipedia

Nagarajan Shanmuganathan
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Kate Bunting
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    I agree with this answer, but a formal definition and an example sentence from literature/elsewhere would make it better. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Sep 19 '16 at 07:56
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    "Ward" is a bit archaic and would be difficult to pass off among the ranks of Joe Public but it is historically correct and still remains legal terminology as in Ward of Court. (UK). – Peter Point Sep 19 '16 at 08:01
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    @WS2 Look a little further down: II A person who is ‘in ward’ (see 2.) 6. a. A minor under the control of a guardian. This term shows up all over regency romance ;-). In non-legal modern language, the term I most often hear is just kid (I'm in the US). – 1006a Sep 19 '16 at 09:33
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    As a relatively contemporary example we can actually turn to the Batman-movie of 1966: "On a peaceful afternoon motor ride, millionaire Bruce Wayne and his youthful ward Dick Grayson have been summoned back to Wayne Manor[...]" – Layna Sep 19 '16 at 11:56
  • @1006a Quite right - well spotted. I will delete my comment and amend my answer. Indeed may I suggest you provide the OED 6a, as an answer, with some suitable comments. I would certainly upvote it as an answer. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 12:11
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    @Layna and Dick/Robin was even played by Burt Ward ! – dave_thompson_085 Sep 19 '16 at 21:02
  • The legal term is, indeed, "ward." In fact, anyone serving as a legal guardian is required to file periodic reports concerning the status and well-being of the ward, who is considered to be "lacking in legal capacity due to age, or mental and/or physical status." I offer the answer as a graduate of an accredited law school with experience in such matters. The guardian is charged with actual visitation of, and reports about the ward on a regular basis. – j. ellis Sep 20 '16 at 17:55
  • @j.ellis Interesting, my experience of the requirements is somewhat different. I'm in the UK - which jurisdiction are you referring to? – SusanW Sep 21 '16 at 14:07
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The old-fashioned word was charge - i.e. my charge has now come of age.

From OED sense 14.

a. A thing or person entrusted to the care or management of any one. spec. The people or district committed to the care of a minister of religion.

1609 Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. ii. 7 Dio. How now my charge. Cres. Now my sweet gardian.

Edit. Having submitted this answer earlier, I am now persuaded that ward is the better word and have up-voted @Kate Bunting's answer.

I no longer think foster son/daughter is correct, since, in the UK anyway, a foster-parent is not the same thing as a guardian. Though one must have regard to the OP's question which refers to guardian/custodian. A foster-parent is more of the nature of a custodian, with day to day control of the child's welfare, but usually under the supervision of a Local Authority, who hold the care order from the Court. It is the Authority who have legal guardianship.

WS2
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    When I was a foster parent, we frequently used foster daughter – and sometimes just daughter. Sometimes a more familial term seems apt for the situation. – J.R. Sep 19 '16 at 07:56
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    @J.R. The only thing I am slightly unsure about is whether foster parent and guardian are synonymous. We, too, have been foster parents. But we never had the legal authority I associate with a guardian. Our foster-child's "guardian" was the Local Authority who had been granted a care order by the Court. Whilst day to day matters were under our control (e.g. signing permission notes for teachers etc.) Anything serious such as a passport application, and permission to take the child out of the country on holiday, had to be authorised by the LA's Social Services Department. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 11:40
  • @J.R. The Oxford online dictionary has this definition (no 3) of ward. According to this the definition of ward meaning a child or young person is current but the definition meaning the condition of being in the care of a guardian is archaic. The meaning of ward as a protected person goes back at least to the mid 19th century since three characters in Bleak House are referred to as wards of John Jarndice. – BoldBen Sep 19 '16 at 12:22
  • @BoldBen I am not sure why you say "the condition of being in the care of a guardian" is archaic. In the UK, a minor child who does not have parents, or who is the subject of a care-order of a court, must have a legal guardian. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 12:29
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    I wasn't saying that the condition is archaic, it obviously isn't. I was just pointing out that the dictionary entry I linked to described the word 'ward' in the sense of 'in the ward of' (definition 3.1 following my link) is archaic. At the time there seemed to be some doubt being expressed as to whether 'ward' could refer to a child which it definitely can. – BoldBen Sep 20 '16 at 12:41
  • @BoldBen I believe we are in agreement! – WS2 Sep 20 '16 at 12:45
  • In the U.S. a guardian assumes legal and financial duty until the child reaches the age of 18. Foster parents are temporary care givers and not guardians. The state or court is the guardian and the child is a ward of the state or court. – AbraCadaver Sep 20 '16 at 21:46
  • @AbraCadaver My belief is that that is exactly the position in the UK too. – WS2 Sep 20 '16 at 22:06
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The legal terms is "ward".

Young Dick Grayson was Bruce Wayne's Ward on the Batman series.

Dave
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    Yeah, the intro to the old Batman TV show is the only place I have heard that used, except in the expression "a ward of the court". But the answer is technically correct (famously, the best kind of correct). – Michael Lorton Sep 20 '16 at 20:38
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    Hi Dave. Welcome to ELU. You may note that the answer "ward" was already given by Kate Bunting, and that she also links to a dictionary (well, Wikipedia) which she quotes in support of her answer. Providing external references is encouraged on ELU. Posting duplicate answers (unless there are problems with the other one and/or you are providing significant new information and/or the postings were more or less simultaneous) isn't encouraged. – AndyT Sep 21 '16 at 14:36
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While Ms. Bunting's answer, ward, is the correct answer to the question as stated, it should be noted that a present-day speaker of English is likely to encounter that term only in legal contexts (if the jurisdiction in question uses it as a technical term) and in the works or literature set in an earlier era (when the rules and practices of raising children were different). There is no special term for such a relationship that is regularly used in everyday, casual communication; in such contexts, the child would normally be referred to by whatever term characterises the relationship that the child otherwise has to the guardian. If the child has been adopted, it would be referred to as simply the son/daughter of the adoptive parents, given that both the law and social mores now treat the status of adopted children as equivalent to that of biological children. If the child is taken care of by a relative, it would be referred to as just the nephew/niece/grandchild/stepchild, etc., and it would be left to the context to make it clear that the relative is acting as a guardian of the child. If no such term is available, one would probably refer to the child by name, and, again, leave it to the context to imply the guardian-ward relationship.

jsw29
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In the U.S. the child would be a foster child, as pointed out in a comment by @J.R. (If you put it in an answer I'll delete mine.)

aparente001
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    You might also use the community wiki function to answer with information others provided in a comment. Like here – Helmar Sep 19 '16 at 10:03
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    Someone can be appointed guardian over a child without the child actually being a foster child. – Kenneth K. Sep 19 '16 at 10:06
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    "Dependant" is a word thrown about a lot in official documentation, which would be well understood on the street as a consequence, even if it still sounds a little formal. – Lightness Races in Orbit Sep 19 '16 at 10:29
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    A foster child is not the same as a ward per se. (A foster child may still become a ward of court in circumstances when the child is being treated badly by his/her foster parents). A ward of court is a legal expression when the guardianship or parental control of a child is legally removed by an application to the court. The child thus removed from his/her parents becomes a Ward of Court. A foster child should not to be confused with a child who is adopted. – Peter Point Sep 19 '16 at 11:28
  • It is quite possible that a child who is made a Ward of Court will then go on to become a foster child with a foster family sanctioned by the Court on the recommendation of the Local Authority. – Peter Point Sep 19 '16 at 11:35
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    @PeterPoint The procedure sounds very much the same as ours, except that nowadays we do not normally use the term Ward of Court (though legally it may still be used). In instances where a child is in danger at home, a Social Services Department (of a Local Government Authority) will apply to a court for a Care Order. If granted the LGA will have guardianship of the child, who either enters a children's home, or is fostered with a family. Initially Social Services usual explore the possibility of placing the child within the extended family e.g with grandparents. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 16:30
  • @PeterPoint - I understood that the OP needs a word for a sentence of this type: I have to go pick up my ______ from school soon. Foster child/son/daughter works, but ward of the court doesn't. ... I wish everyone would specify which country they're talking about because I'm getting confused. – aparente001 Sep 19 '16 at 16:32
  • @LightnessRacesinOrbit - I think the word you're referencing is dependent. The problem with your proposal, though, is that bio and adopted children are also dependents. – aparente001 Sep 19 '16 at 16:33
  • @aparente001: No, in English the word is spelt dependant (though I am to believe that the American variants use -ent instead). And yep that's the meaning - I thought that was a benefit of the choice, but I may have slightly misread the question on my first reading. – Lightness Races in Orbit Sep 19 '16 at 16:35
  • @aparente001 In the UK the picking up from school is not usually done by the guardian (who is likely to be a Local Authority). That kind of thing is mostly done by foster parents. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 16:36
  • @WS2: I disagree, and I was not only born in the UK but have lived in it for a number of decades! Being picked up from school by your guardian is not only commonplace, it is the wording used in school correspondance ("ask your parent or guardian to sign this consent form for your school trip") – Lightness Races in Orbit Sep 19 '16 at 16:37
  • @LightnessRacesinOrbit My own experience, as a one-time foster parent is that the word guardian tends to be used quite loosely, including by schools. However we were never informed by the Local Authority who held the legal care order of the court that we were guardians. It was always my understanding that it was a legal term applicable to a person or entity who held all parental rights. That was not the foster parents. Whenever I was given a school form to be signed where it said Parent/Guardian I would always cross out Guardian and write Foster Parent. – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 16:49
  • @WS2: I'm extremely surprised to hear of a foster parent who does not have legal guardianship of their foster children. Unless something was very strange about the fostership, "guardian" was always a correct term for your legal relationship ("foster parent", of course, being a more specific description of your practical relationship). That's why it was one of the two options on the forms. – Lightness Races in Orbit Sep 19 '16 at 16:51
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    @LightnessRacesinOrbit In the case of children in care it is the Local Authority who is guardian - they approve all important things, like which school the child attends etc. Even though the child called us mum & dad - and still does, age 39! – WS2 Sep 19 '16 at 17:00
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    @aparente001 Quite so! My knowledge of these things is based on the situation in the UK (as previously stated) but I have to say that I have not lived in the UK for many years. As I previously stated, I think the use of the word "ward" is archaic outside of legal circles. I take the point that in the case of a foster child/foster parent(s), the appropriate welfare department of the LA would likely have legal guardianship of the child, such a status conferred by a court or a Judge-in-Chambers. – Peter Point Sep 19 '16 at 17:02
  • @WS2 That's very nice. – Peter Point Sep 19 '16 at 17:04
  • @WS2 - In the US, letters from school come home saying "To the parent/guardian/caregiver of (name of child)." If the child doesn't ride the bus or walk home, it is the parent or quasi-parent who does the picking up, unless s/he has managed for make a carpool with other parents. What I learned from these comments is that the terminology seems to be completely different between UK and US. Without knowing which country the OP is asking about, I don't think we're going to be very productive. I would suggest that if you guys want to discuss this further, that you take it to chat. Thanks, all! – aparente001 Sep 19 '16 at 17:14
  • In the U.S. a guardian assumes legal and financial duty until the child reaches the age of 18. Foster parents are temporary care givers and not guardians. The state or court is the guardian and the child is a ward of the state or court. – AbraCadaver Sep 20 '16 at 21:48
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protégé may apply.

a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.
"he was an aide and protégé of the former Tennessee senator"

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English via encyclopedia.com

Andrew Leach
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wererertjh
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    No, this does not at all imply that you have a legal guardianship relationship to the child. If you disagree, please provide evidence of it being used to refer to that kind of relationship. – curiousdannii Sep 20 '16 at 13:45
  • the question does not specify a legal relationship, just "a term for the relationship of a guardian to the child" – wererertjh Sep 20 '16 at 14:21
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    "Guardian" is a legal term. Protege is just completely the wrong term. – curiousdannii Sep 20 '16 at 14:23
  • no you're incorrect – wererertjh Sep 20 '16 at 14:24
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    'No you're incorrect' is not an argument or example. 'Protege' is not the correct term here. – user207421 Sep 21 '16 at 00:10
  • While this is not exactly the correct answer to the question as stated, it is not so far off to justify the extraordinary number of downvotes. I suspect that the downvotes were a response to the tone of the OP's last comment, rather than to any intrinsic demerits of the answer. Protégé is close to what the question is about, but not quite the same, because (1) it may be, and often is, used for somebody who is legally an adult, and (2) the mentoring, support, and protection are usually limited to some aspects of the protégé's life. – jsw29 Oct 06 '22 at 16:06