Guardhouse Definition – What CanYou Learn?

What Is A Guardhouse?

dictionary.com defines guardhouse as:

noun:

1. a building used for housing military personnel on guard duty.

2. a building used for the temporary detention of military prisoners.

Guardhouse

The definition of the word may not be the way that you and I would use the word today. When we use the word guardhouse, we would probably use it differently than it is defined online based on the history of the word. We probably think of a guardhouse as a protective security building for safety personnel or a building like a guardshack for a security guard.

A guardhouse, according to the definitions above, makes us think that this station would be a military one. There would be military guards and the guardhouse would be a place of temporary detention for prisoners. This place would likely be a hostile environment and it would probably not smell good, feel comfortable or have good language while a person was being housed here. Imagine if you were being held temporarily in a guardhouse back in these times, perhaps during the 1400’s-1800’s.  I personally relate to the contemporary example where security personnel is mentioned. When I think of a guardhouse, I think particularly of security personnel, although maybe not anxious security personnel.

Contemporary Examples

“Leon stopped at the guardhouse, which was crawling with prison guards and anxious security personnel.” John Grisham's First Short Story: Part Two John Grisham October 25, 2009

Historical Examples:

“I like to smoke a cigar, but a lady who smells like a guardhouse isn't at all agreeable.” San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams Charles Paul de Kock 

“Thus, by forcing their way into the guardhouse, the friars, brought him into the city.” The Phillippine Islands, 1498-1898 Various

Interestingly, the British Dictionary definition for guardhouse also has a military background for the word and again we find it similarly defined:(military) a building serving as the headquarters or a post for military police and in which military prisoners are detained.

Either way, the word guardhouse has an interesting definition, giving a unique feel to the word. Guardhouse is used alongside words such as, “crawling with prison guards”; “military personnel” and “smells like”. These descriptive words help us to get a feel for the beginnings of a word and how it must have felt to have been housed by guards in a temporary, military establishment.

Today we do not necessarily think of a guardhouse the same way as the way the word was used around the time of its establishment within our language. Although guardhouses are used in military settings, they are rarely used the same way they would have been used by definition so long ago in the stories we read about. A guardhouse now has a place of security and safety for control personnel. Check-in staff can sit in comfortable surroundings with air conditioning and heat, year-round. Electrical wiring and telephone hookup allows for multiple ports providing charging stations for communication, internet access and even break rooms and restrooms so that the post can be maintained without departure. 

Gatehouse

When we search a different word than guardhouse, we see yet a different outcome. Although the word guardhouse brought up a definition that was more military in nature, the word gatehouse “has been used for various purposes, for a chapel, for a prison, for a brewery”. Notice that the word gatehouse is used to describe an area around a moat or mansion. This gives us more of the feeling of perhaps an ancient castle or a location for someone of wealth and great importance. The gatehouse definition sounds like a completely different job description than that of the guardhouse position.

Notice the British Dictionary definitions: (noun)

1. a building above or beside an entrance gate to a city, university, etc, often housing a porter or guard, or (formerly) used as a fortification

2. a small house at the entrance to the grounds of a country mansion

3. a structure that houses the controls operating lock gates or dam sluices

The definition brings to mind perhaps a more laid back type of lifestyle for the gatehouse personnel than the guardhouse personnel. Maybe sprawling hills and a manor, or an estate with winding hills, perhaps a castle with a moat. Any of these lovely locations could have had a gatehouse with a gatekeeper as a staff member. Whereas the guardhouse would have likely housed a staff with military personnel and the surroundings would not have been, should we say, ideal for those involved. A modern definition of a gatehouse might be a security staff member who is at the locked gate and checks in people who visit important government locations, high security positions with locked gates, universities, gated communities, tourist attractions, border crossings and any number of gated locations.

Conclusion – What Did You Learn?

Between a guardhouse and a gatehouse, what is the difference? Which word would you use to describe the structure used most often in the applications that you see in today’s society? What do you learn?

What I learned is that the way people define a word has something to do with the past and the present. We can and do use words in society somewhat based on the way they were used in the past. Words are most often used in a way that they fit into our everyday speech in today’s society. A word can be shaped to take on a somewhat new meaning and then language adapts to that definition rather than the opposite being true. People do not seem to want to adapt to the definition of a word; people would rather make a word fit into their definition. It is interesting to learn more about the definition and background of words such as guardhouse and gatehouse and their origins.

Cited Sources:

guardhouse. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved March 9, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/guardhouse

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2017.guardhouse. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/guardhouse (accessed: March 9, 2017).

"guardhouse". Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 9 Mar. 2017.  

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/guardhouse>.

gatehouse. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved March 9, 2017 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/gatehouse

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