I. ˈlȯ(ə)rd, -ȯ(ə)d, sometimes chiefly Brit ˈləd esp in exclamations & in the form of address “My Lord” used by lawyers in court noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English lord, loverd, from Old English hlāford, from hlāf bread, loaf + weard keeper, guard — more at loaf , ward
1. : one having power and authority over others:
a. : a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due : governor , prince , sovereign
lord among earls — Alfred Tennyson
our late sovereign lord — John Keats
b. : one of whom a fee or estate is held in feudal tenure : the proprietor of feudal land — compare manor , mesne lord
c. : a proprietor or owner of land or houses
lord of few acres and those barren too — John Dryden
— compare landlord
d. obsolete : the male head of a household : a master of servants
that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming — Mt 24:48 (Authorized Version)
e. : husband
my sour husband, my hardhearted lord — Shakespeare
f. : one that has achieved mastery by virtue of superior strength or conquest
last in the field and almost lords of it — Shakespeare
pain is a terrible lord
g. : a man who exercises leadership or great power in a particular business or occupation
press lords
money lords
the lords of art today — Bernard Smith
a warning from the vice lords … not to meddle in their affairs — Bosley Crowther
2. capitalized
a. : god II
the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain — Exod 20:7 (Revised Standard Version)
— often used as an interjection to express surprise or pity
Lord, what fools these mortals be — Shakespeare
b. : christ
they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him — Jn 20:2 (Revised Standard Version)
3. : a man of rank or high position: as
a. : a tenant in capite of the king or other feudal superior — compare baron 1
b. : any of various titled noblemen in Great Britain — used as a courtesy title for the younger son of a duke or marquess
Lord Eustace Percy, younger son of a duke of Northumberland
and as a mode of reference for (1) a baron
Lord Graves, Baron of Gravesend
or (2) on all but formal occasions a peer of the rank of marquess, earl, or viscount or one so styled as a courtesy title
addressing the marquess of Hartington as Lord Hartington
c. lords plural , usually capitalized : the lords temporal and spiritual that constitute the upper house of the British Parliament
only two or three bills thrown out by the Lords have ever been forced through by the Commons — George Orwell
4. : a planet having controlling power or influence astrologically over a particular sign, house, or hour
5. : a person chosen to preside over a festival — compare lord of misrule
6. Britain : a humpbacked person
7. : a male harlequin duck — compare lord-and-lady
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English lorden, from lord, n.
intransitive verb
: to behave like a lord : act in a lordly manner : put on airs
supreme the spectral creature lorded — Robert Browning
— usually used with formulary it
lording it in a stucco palace — Clifton Fadiman
lording it around the bar — Edna Ferber
the film director has lorded it over the interpreter of Shakespeare — Walter Goodman
transitive verb
1. archaic : to rule as lord of
all the revels he had lorded there — John Keats
2. archaic
a. : to grant the title of lord to : ennoble
those that hath for any services been lorded — George Wither
b. : to address by the title of lord
every spoken tongue should lord you — Alfred Tennyson