Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who minds, attends to, or takes care of anything; a caretaker.
  • noun One who is minded or taken care of; specifically, a pauper child intrusted by the poorlaw authorities to the care of a private person.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who minds, tends, or watches something, as a child, a machine, or cattle.
  • noun engraving One to be attended; specif., a pauper child intrusted to the care of a private person.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who minds, tends, or watches something such as a child, a machine, or cattle; a keeper
  • noun UK A personal bodyguard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone (usually in totalitarian countries) who is assigned to watch over foreign visitors
  • noun a person who looks after babies (usually in the person's own home) while the babys' parents are working

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English minder ("one who has a good memory; bears in mind; watches over; a keeper"); equivalent to mind +‎ -er.

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