lord

Etymology

From Middle English lord and lorde (attested from the 15th century), from earlier (14th century) lourde and other variants which dropped the intervocalic consonant of earlier lowerd, louerd, loverd, laford, and lhoaverd; from Old English hlāford < hlāfweard, a compound of hlāf (“bread”) + weard (“guardian”); see loaf and ward. The term was already being applied broadly prior to the literary development of Old English and was influenced by its common use to translate Latin dominus. Compare Scots laird (“lord”), preserving a separate vowel development (from northern/Scottish Middle English lard, laverd), the Old English compound hlāf-ǣta (“servant”, literally “bread-eater”), and modern English lady, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“bread-kneader”). The Middle English word laford was borrowed by Icelandic, where it survives as lávarður.

noun

1. (obsolete) The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor
   1. (archaic) The male head of a household, a father or husband.
      Ymbe ðet lond et cert ðe hire eðelmod hire hlabard salde. 831, charter in Henry Sweet, The oldest English texts, 445
   2. (archaic) The owner of a house, piece of land, or other possession
      All suche lordes as have gutters betuxte thar houses. 1480, Waterford Archives in the 10th Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (1885), App. v. 316
      A mightie Lord of Swine! ante 1637, Ben Jonson, Sad Shepherd, ii. i. 36
      Lord, the owner of the land in which a mine is situated is called the ‘lord’. 1874, J. H. Collins, “Principles of Metal Mining”, in Gloss, published 1875, 139/2
2. One possessing similar mastery over others; (historical) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign ruler; in Scotland, a male member of the lowest rank of nobility (the equivalent rank in England is baron)
   1. (historical) A feudal tenant holding his manor directly of the king
   2. A peer of the realm, particularly a temporal one
      Men myghten lordis knowe ante 1420, T. Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, 442
      If such persone bee of the estate of a Lord, as Duc, Marques, Erle, Viscount or Baron. 1453, Rolls of Parliament, V. 266/2
      Our English name Lord, whereby we and the Scots stile all such as are of the Greater Nobilitie i. Barons, as also Bishops. 1614, J. Selden, Titles of Honor, section 59
      The Englishman of to-day still dearly loves a lord. 1900 July 21, Daily Express
   3. (obsolete, uncommon) A baron or lesser nobleman, as opposed to greater ones
      1526, W. Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection, i. sig. Bviiiv Farre excellyng the state of lordes, erles, dukes or kynges.
      The Marquess played off the two Lords and the Baronet against his former friend. 1826, Benjamin Disraeli, Vivian Grey, II. iii. iii. 26
3. One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)
   O wityng bath god and ill Ȝee suld be lauerds at ȝour will. ante 1300, Cursor Mundi, 782
   The sonne is the lorde of planetes. 1398, Bartholomew de Glanville, translated by John Trevisa, De Proprietatibus Rerum, published 1495, viii. xvi. 322
   The masterful wind was up and out, shouting and chasing, the lord of the morning. 1895, Kenneth Graham, The Golden Age, London, page 8
   But are you still master of your domain? I am king of the county. You? Lord of the manor. 1992 November 18, Larry David, Seinfeld, 4.11: "The Contest"
   1. A magnate of a trade or profession.
      The Tobacco Lords were a group of Scottish merchants and slave traders who in the 18th century made enormous fortunes by trading in tobacco.
      Oh, Oh! The cotton Lords are tearing! 1823, W. Cobbett, Rural Rides, published 1885, I. 399
4. (astrology) The heavenly body considered to possess a dominant influence over an event, time, etc.
   The assendent, & eke the lord of the assendent, may be shapen for to be fortunat or infortunat, as thus, a fortunat assendent clepen they whan þat no wykkid planete, as Saturne or Mars, or elles the tail of the dragoun, is in þe hows of the assendent. c. 1391, Geoffrey Chaucer, Treatise on the Astrolabe, ii. §4
5. (Britain, slang, obsolete) A hunchback.
   Lord, a very crooked, deformed... Person. 1699, B.E., A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew
6. (Britain, Australia, via Cockney rhyming slang, obsolete) Sixpence.
   Twenty years ago you might hear a sixpence described as a ‘Lord’ meaning ‘Lord of the Manor’; that is, a tanner. November 16 1933, Times Literary Supplement, 782/1

verb

1. (intransitive and transitive) Domineer or act like a lord.
2. (transitive) To invest with the dignity, power, and privileges of a lord; to grant the title of lord.
   He being thus lorded / Not only with what my revenue yielded, / But what my power might else exact, […] / he did believe / He was indeed the Duke c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, act 1, scene 2