The bard occurs as poet and singer, in religious or even feudalistic contexts. A word occurs as loan from either Celtic *bardos, ultimately from either PIE *g^werh₂ "to raise the voice; praise". It entered a English language twice, number one inside 1449 from Gaelic into Scottish English, denoting an itinerant musician, usually using the disdainful connotation. The local Scottish ordnance of ca. 1500 orders that "All vagabundis, fulis, bardis, scudlaris, and siclike idill pepill, sall be brint on the cheek".

Around mediaeval Welsh and Irish society, a bard (Irish bard, Welsh bardd) was a office poet, listed to compose eulogies for his lord (understand planxty). In case the employer failed to pay a proper total, a bard would so compose a satire. (c. f. fili, fáith). Within more European societies, the equivalent work was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels, etc.

In the period of Romanticism, the word was re-introduced in the feel of "lyric poet", idealised by writers like Sir Walter Scott. A word was taken from either Latin bardus, Greek bardos, successively loans from either a Gaulish language, describing a class of Celtic priest (c. f. druid, vates). From either this romantic utilise come a epitheton "The Bard" applied to William Shakespeare or Robert Burns. Around modern Wales the "Gorsedd of Bards" is a society whose honorary membership is victims world health organization own done neat items for Wales.

around the 20th century, the word misplaced very much of its original connotation of Celtic revivalism or even even Romanticism, & can refer to any office poet or singer, for instance in a mildly ironic tone. In the Soviet Union, singers that were outside the establishment were called bards from a 1960s.

Bards produce higher one of a trey grades of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a Neo-Druidic order based inside England.