lord
- 1God, as worshipped in Judaism, Christianity and Islam; in English Bibles often printed LORD in capitals.
The old preacher insisted that the king had been chosen by the Lord.
They gave thanks to the Lord for bringing them home safely from the war.
UsageUse a capital L: the Lord, our Lord, your Lord. In direct address, omit the: O Lord.
Note
Shakespeare's Richard II gives the name political weight: a king is "the deputy elected by the Lord".
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- In Shakespeare’s Richard II, King Richard describes an anointed king as “the deputy elected by the Lord”; the quotation and its political context are accurate. folger.edu
- 2A person with power over others, especially a feudal superior such as the master of a manor, a nobleman or a ruler.
The rebels took up arms against their rightful lord, the prince who had ruled them for twenty years.
She grew up believing that no person should be lord over another.
UsageOften with over: no one should be lord over another. Also their lord, the lords of the north.
Similarmaster, ruler, sovereign
Note
Power over people is the heart of this sense, and over is its natural partner: Milton's Paradise Lost insists that "Man over men He made not Lord." John Palsgrave in 1530 calls it a piteous case when subjects rebel against their "naturall lorde", the ruler owed their loyalty.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- The quoted words occur in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Adam speaks them, rejecting human dominion over other humans. en.wikisource.org
- The Milton quotation has the stated wording. en.wikisource.org
- Palsgrave calls subjects’ rebellion against their “naturall lorde” a piteous case. en.wiktionary.org
- The Palsgrave passage is dated 1530, the original publication year of Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse. openlibrary.org
- 3Jesus Christ, understood in Christian belief as God the Son.
The pastor urged them to follow the Lord Jesus in their daily lives.
The disciples left their nets to follow their Lord along the shore of Galilee.
UsageCommon forms include our Lord and the Lord Jesus. The Lord alone can also mean Jesus when the context is clear.
Note
The Douay–Rheims Bible of 1582 already has "Our Lord IESVS", and Tennyson's 1889 tribute to W. G. Ward praises loyalty "in the following of thy Lord". Since the Lord alone can just as well mean God the Father, writers who mean Christ tend to make it plain.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The Douay–Rheims New Testament was first published in 1582. archive.org
- The 1582 translation contains the exact words “Our Lord IESVS”, in 1 Corinthians 12:3. en.wiktionary.org
- Tennyson’s memorial poem for W. G. Ward was published in 1889. upload.wikimedia.org
- Tennyson’s tribute praises Ward’s loyalty using the quoted wording. gutenberg.org
- The quotation’s exact wording is “in the following of thy Lord”. gutenberg.org
- 4A British peer, or the title used for one, as in 'Lord Hartley'; also a similar noble title in other countries.
Lord Hartley rose in the chamber to speak against the bill.
As the duke's younger son, he was styled Lord Henry Ashcombe, though he held no peerage of his own.
UsageUsually goes directly before the name: Lord Hartley, Lord Henry Ashcombe. Formal styles may include the, as in The Lord Tennyson.
Note
The title goes straight before the name, in address as in reference, as in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan: "How do you do, Lord Darlington?" For the younger sons of dukes and marquesses it is a courtesy only, worn as part of the name by men who hold no peerage of their own.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Oscar Wilde wrote Lady Windermere’s Fan. gutenberg.org
- The exact quotation occurs in the play; Lady Windermere and the Duchess of Berwick both say it to Lord Darlington. gutenberg.org
- Younger sons of dukes and marquesses receive the courtesy style Lord before their personal names. en.wikipedia.org
- The courtesy style does not itself confer a substantive peerage. en.wikipedia.org
- 5Any deity other than the Abrahamic God who is especially important to a religion or a worshipper.
Pilgrims crowd the temple steps each spring to honor Lord Shiva.
The coven called on their Lord, the Horned God, to bless the harvest.
UsageBefore a god's name as a title of honor: Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha.
Note
Before a god's name it works as a title of honor, much as it does before a British peer's name; Lord Shiva is the familiar pattern in English writing on Hinduism. Without a name it can take a possessive, as Christians use it: Wiccan writers speak of "our Lord", meaning the Horned God.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Shiva is referred to as Lord Shiva in English Hindu writing. hinduamerican.org
- A possessive is possible but not required; Wiccans also use "the Lord". en.wikipedia.org
- Wiccan writers use our Lord to refer to the Horned God. patheos.com
- 6A person or thing that has great power over something, such as a trade or a place, as in 'a drug lord'.
The press lord owned dozens of newspapers and could make or break a politician's career.
Police say the drug lord ran the whole trade along the border from a farmhouse.
UsageThe trade or field goes in front: drug lord, press lord, cotton lords.
Similarbaron, magnate, tycoon, mogul, king
Note
The Tobacco Lords were Glasgow merchants who made enormous fortunes from slave-grown tobacco in the 18th century, and Cobbett's Rural Rides exclaims that "The Cotton Lords are tearing!"
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The Tobacco Lords were Glasgow merchants trading in tobacco in the eighteenth century. blogs.loc.gov
- Their enormous fortunes came from trading in tobacco produced by enslaved people. en.wikipedia.org
- William Cobbett wrote Rural Rides, which contains the exclamation quoted. gutenberg.org
- 7An extra title that marks the dignity of certain high officials, such as the Lord Mayors of major British Commonwealth cities.
The Lord Mayor of Sydney welcomed the visiting delegation at the town hall.
The Lord Chief Justice read out the court's decision to a packed room.
UsagePart of fixed titles: Lord Mayor, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Chancellor.
Less common meanings
- 8Used as an exclamation of astonishment, surprise or resignation.
Good Lord, is that really the time?
Lord, I suppose we'll just have to start over.
UsageCommon in Good Lord and Oh Lord, most often at the start of a sentence.
Note
What began as an invocation of God has worn down into a reaction to news, good or bad. It often has a word in front, as in O Lord, Oh Lord or Good Lord, and it often opens the sentence it colors; Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors already has "O Lord I must laugh."
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The interjection developed from an invocation of God. en.wiktionary.org
- It can also interrupt a sentence, as in Mr. Jarndyce's speech in Bleak House. gutenberg.org
- Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors contains the quoted words. folger.edu
- 9To domineer, or to behave with the superior air of a lord.
He never missed a chance to lord his degree over the rest of the staff.
Her rivals resented the way she lorded over every committee she chaired.
UsageMost often lord it over someone: don't lord it over the new kids.
Similardomineer
Note
The verb also works with other objects or without one. Someone can lord over a committee, or lord a degree over colleagues, where the thing flaunted becomes the object and over marks the people made to feel it. Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender (1579) gives an older, plainer picture: loathed toads "lording" on a toadstool like little masters.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Edmund Spenser wrote The Shepheardes Calender, first published in 1579. folger.edu
- The first-edition title page gives 1579 as the publication year. en.wikisource.org
- The poem depicts loathed creatures 'lording' on a toadstool. en.wikisource.org
- The poem's 'paddocks' are toads. gutenberg.org
- 10A title attached to the holding of land or rights rather than to noble rank, as in lord of the manor or Lord Proprietor.
He bought the title Lord of the Manor of Little Hadley at auction, though it came with no land.
The colony's charter named several Lords Proprietors, each with a share of the land.
- 11To raise someone to the dignity, power and privileges of a lord, or to grant someone the title of lord.
Similarennoble
Note
Shakespeare shows the verb in the passive: in The Tempest Prospero says his brother, "being thus lorded" with Prospero's revenue and power, came to believe he was indeed the Duke. So the verb can mean dressing someone in a lord's wealth and authority, not only conferring the title.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Shakespeare wrote The Tempest. en.wikipedia.org
- Prospero uses the passive phrase "being thus lorded" about his brother, referring to his revenue and power. folger.edu
- Prospero says his brother came to believe he was the Duke. gutenberg.org
- The verb can mean investing someone with a lord's power and privileges, beyond granting a title. en.wiktionary.org
- 12The person elected to preside over a festival.
The students elected a Lord of Misrule to preside over the midwinter revels.
As Lord of the feast, he opened the games and judged the contests.
- 13The man who heads a household, as its father or husband.
Every evening the household gathered for prayers led by its lord, the father of eleven children.
Yes, here I am, my good friend; and here I have been so long, that anywhere else I should think it necessary to apologise; but, the truth is, that I am waiting for my lord and master.
1815, [Jane Austen], EmmaUsageToday mostly in the joking pair lord and master.
Note
Wives once spoke of a husband as their lord: Sarah laughs in the King James Bible at the thought of pleasure, "my lord being old also", and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew has Katherine tell headstrong wives what they owe "their lords and husbands". Jane Austen's Emma already has lord and master, the pairing that outlived the plain sense and is now often said in jest.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Wives historically called their husbands lord; Sarah uses the quoted words while laughing to herself in Genesis 18:12 of the King James Bible. en.wikisource.org
- In The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio tells Katherine to explain the wives' duties and speaks the quoted phrase himself. shakespeare.mit.edu
- Jane Austen's Emma contains the expression lord and master, used by Mrs. Elton for her husband. gutenberg.org
- 14The person who owns a house, a piece of land, or any other possession.
Each ton of tin raised from the shaft earned a share for the lord on whose land the mine lay.
A mightie Lord of Swine!
ante''' 1637, Ben Jonson, Sad ShepherdNote
Though the general owner's sense is now archaic, mining has used the word in a specific way: J. H. Collins's Principles of Metal Mining explains that the owner of the land in which a mine lies is called its lord. Older verse stretches it further: in Dryden's Virgil a sword is plunged into the bosom of its lord, the man who owned it.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- J. H. Collins's Principles of Metal Mining calls the owner of the land containing a mine its lord. en.wiktionary.org
- In John Dryden's translation of Virgil's Aeneid, a sword is plunged into its owner's bosom, and the owner is called its lord. gutenberg.org
- 15A baron or other nobleman of lower rank, as distinct from the greater nobility.
The Marquess played off the two Lords and the Baronet against his former friend.
1826, Benjamin Disraeli, Vivian Grey1526, W. Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection, i. sig. Bviiiv Farre excellyng the state of lordes, erles, dukes or kynges.
Note
Here the word fills only the bottom rung, below earls, dukes and kings: W. Bonde's Pylgrimage of Perfection (1526) ranks "lordes, erles, dukes or kynges" in rising order. The narrow use has died out, and it shows only when greater titles stand beside it, as in Disraeli's Vivian Grey, where a Marquess plays off "the two Lords" against a former friend.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- In this sense, lord denotes a baron or lesser nobleman, distinguished from greater nobles. en.wiktionary.org
- William Bonde wrote The Pylgrimage of Perfection, published in 1526. gla.ac.uk
- Bonde's text lists the quoted titles in ascending order. en.wiktionary.org
- Benjamin Disraeli wrote Vivian Grey. gutenberg.org
- The narrator describes the Marquess playing off the two Lords against his former friend. gutenberg.org
- 16Sixpence, as a coin or a sum of money.
Twenty years ago you might hear a sixpence described as a ‘Lord’ meaning ‘Lord of the Manor’; that is, a tanner.
1933, Times Literary Supplement, 782/1Note
Slang stacks on slang here: Lord of the Manor rhymes with tanner, itself slang for a sixpence, and the phrase was clipped to its first word, as Cockney rhyming slang often is. The Times Literary Supplement was already recalling it in 1933 as something heard twenty years earlier, and it has long vanished from British and Australian speech.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Tanner is slang for a sixpence. en.wiktionary.org
- Lord is clipped rhyming slang from Lord of the Manor, rhyming with tanner; the Times Literary Supplement recalled this in 1933 as something heard twenty years earlier. en.wiktionary.org
- Cockney rhyming slang commonly omits the rhyming part of the phrase. en.wikipedia.org
- 17A respectful title used when speaking to a peer, a bishop, or certain senior judges, usually preceded by my.
"With respect, my Lord, the witness has already answered that question," said the barrister.
"Welcome to the parish, my Lord," the vicar said as the bishop stepped out of the car.
UsageMostly my Lord, said to the person: Yes, my Lord. To talk about a peer, use the title and name.
- 18An English family name that began as a nickname, either for a man who put on lordly airs or for one who served in a nobleman's home.
- 19Under feudalism, a tenant who held his manor directly from the king.
- 20The heavenly body believed in astrology to hold the dominant influence over an event, a period of time or the like.
- 21A high priest in the Wiccan religion.
- 22A person with a hunched or crooked back.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English lord, earlier lourde and loverd, from Old English hlāford, a compound of hlāf ("bread"; see loaf) and weard ("guardian"; see ward), whose use was influenced by its common use to translate Latin dominus. Scots laird ("lord") is a separate development of the same word, and lady likewise comes from an Old English compound, hlǣfdīġe ("bread-kneader").
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- Lord derives from Middle English lord, with earlier forms lourde and loverd. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old English ancestor hlāford derives from a compound of hlāf and weard. en.wiktionary.org
- Hlāf means bread and is the ancestor of loaf. en.wiktionary.org
- Weard means guardian and is the ancestor of ward. en.wiktionary.org
- The word's use was influenced by its common use to translate Latin dominus. en.wiktionary.org
- Scots laird means lord and developed separately from the same ancestral word. en.wiktionary.org
- Lady descends from the Old English compound hlǣfdīġe, etymologically bread-kneader. en.wiktionary.org
From lord. Used for God, it began in Old English as a translation of Latin Dominus, which rendered Greek Kýrios and Hebrew Adonai ("my lord"), the word read aloud in place of God's name, YHWH. It replaced the older word drighten.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The divine title derives from lord and originated in Old English as a translation of Latin Dominus, corresponding to Greek Kýrios and Hebrew Adonai. en.wiktionary.org
- Adonai means 'my lord'. jewishencyclopedia.com
- Adonai is read aloud in place of the divine name YHWH. en.wiktionary.org
- Lord displaced the earlier divine title drighten. en.wiktionary.org