Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wardship \Ward"ship\, n.
   1. The office of a ward or keeper; care and protection of a
      ward; guardianship; right of guardianship.

            Wardship is incident to tenure in socage.
                                                  --Blackstone.

   2. The state of begin under a guardian; pupilage.

            It was the wisest act . . . in my wardship. --B.
                                                  Jonson.