ˈwȯrdˌship, -ȯ(ə)d- noun
Etymology: Middle English, from ward (I) + -ship
1.
a. : the office of a guardian or keeper : care and protection of a ward : the right of guardianship : guardianship
b. : the feudal right to the custody of the body of an infant heir of a tenant by knight's service or military sergeanty, by socage, or by copyhold and to the custody of the ward's property originally with the right of the lord to dispose of the ward in marriage and to retain the rents and profits of his land subject to the ward's right to suitable support and that in guardianship by socage terminated when the ward reached 14 years of age and by military sergeanty at 21 ; also : a similar right of wardship under Scots feudal law
2. : the state of being under a guardian