(often initial capital letter) a term of respect used when speaking of or to certain noblemen (usually preceded by his oryour ).
the state or dignity of a lord.
the authority or power of a lord.
the domain of a lord.
British. a term of respect used when speaking of or to judges (usually preceded by his oryour ).
before 900; Middle English; Old English hlāfordscipe. See lord, -ship
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2020, Cambodia’s king had bestowed upon Chen the title of neak oknha, similar to a lordship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
They demanded the end of lordship and recognized no authority but the king’s.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2022
It says: "For, as long as 100 of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English."
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2021
Who may himself be a property developer now; one can’t keep track of the many business interests of his lordship.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 11, 2019
But she was too, of course, a member of Sir Oswald Mosley's 'blackshirts' organization, and the very little contact his lordship ever had with Sir Oswald occurred during those few weeks of that summer.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
To think his Lordship did not break his bones!
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
"If your Lordship should consider that these observations may disgust or scandalise the learned, I earnestly beg your Lordship to regard them as private and to publish or destroy them as your Lordship sees fit."
From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2023
“His Lordship summed up the Evidence in a very moving Speech to the Jury, wherein he said, he never met with a Case so barbarous and unnatural,” the magazine reported.
From Washington Post ● May 15, 2022
Stony Stoica, 44, from Lordship Lane, is due to appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Monday, the Metropolitan Police said.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2021
I listened through the canvas as she whispered long hours with His Lordship, though words I could not divine, merely the hissing sibilants of collusion and intimacy.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
