seigneur

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor. Doublet of senior, seignior, sire, and sir.

noun

1. (history) A feudal lord or noble in French contexts.
   There was less and less love lost between peasants and seigneurs. The services which the latter had provided for the peasant community in the past had diminished in value. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 156
2. The hereditary feudal ruler of Sark.
   Beaumont lives on Sark, a small, autonomous island twenty-five miles off the coast of Normandy, with her husband, Michael, the island's seigneur. 29 Oct 2012, Lauren Collins, The New Yorker
3. (Canada) A landowner in Canada; the holder of a seigneurie.
4. A hereditary title in the Bailiwick of Jersey.