Yard, n. [OE. yard, yerd, AS. geard; akin to OFries. garda garden, OS. gardo garden, gard yard, D. gaard garden, G. garten, OHG. garto garden, gari inclosure, Icel. garðr yard, house, Sw. gård, Dan. gaard, Goth. gards a house, garda sheepfold, L. hortus garden, Gr. χόρτοσ an inclosure. Cf. Court, Garden, Garth, Horticulture, Orchard.]
1. An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of, or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a barnyard.
A yard... inclosed all about with sticks
In which she had a cock, hight chanticleer. Chaucer.
2. An inclosure within which any work or business is carried on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.
Liberty of the yard, a liberty, granted to persons imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any other limits prescribed by law, on their giving bond not to go beyond those limits. — Prison yard, an inclosure about a prison, or attached to it. — Yard grass(Bot.), a low-growing grass (Eleusine Indica) having digitate spikes. It is common in dooryards, and like places, especially in the Southern United States. Called also crab grass. — Yard of land. See Yardland.