landlord

American  

[land-lawrd] / ˈlændˌlɔrd /

noun

• landlords
  plural

1. a person or organization that owns and leases apartments to others.

2. a person who owns and leases land, buildings, etc.

3. a person who owns or runs an inn, lodging house, etc.

4. a landowner.

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landlord British  

/ ˈlændˌlɔːd /

noun

1. a man who owns and leases property

2. a man who owns or runs a lodging house, pub, etc

3. archaic the lord of an estate

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• landlordry
  noun
• landlordship
  noun
• landlordly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• landlords
  plural

Etymology

Origin of landlord

before 1000; Middle English; Old English landhlāford. See land, lord

Explanation

If you lease an apartment, the person to whom you pay rent is your landlord. A landlord owns a house, building, or property and rents it out to other people. Many people have landlords they call when their drains are clogged and mail their rent checks to on the first of each month. Business owners often have landlords too, who own their retail or office spaces. Men and women can both be landlords, although you can also call a female landlord a landlady. The concept of a landlord goes back to feudalism — the lord part comes from "Lord of the Manor."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

landlord landlords

For owners who locked in a 2% or 3% mortgage several years ago, temporarily becoming a landlord can be a compelling alternative.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Initially, Barritt and Haines had hoped to reopen on the same property, but they said they ultimately had to look at other locations after the landlord decided not to rebuild.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Lisburn Square No 2, the apartment owners' landlord, said it was the "largest individual contributor to the service charge" and that all expenditure was audited.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

And he asked Mastro whether he concedes that rent-stabilized apartment owners’ net operating income—a measure of landlord profits that excludes their debt payments—increased.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

It was supposed to be temporary, but I was sealcoating the parking lot of this building and the landlord, he used to stand out on the balcony, smoking a cigar while I worked.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

The legislation will not affect landlords that rent out their own primary residence for short periods of time.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

The Housing Ombudsman covers social housing in England and private landlords can sign up voluntarily.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

The pub closed from Monday after what it described as a "tough few days", but its landlords said it would reopen from 15:00.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Higher bond yields also hit the rental market, making it costlier for developers to build and pushing landlords to demand higher rents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

The worst bore down upon the Irish in the 1840s, when the potato crop, their food of life, rotted in the ground for four years running, and landlords heartlessly threw their tenants into the streets.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Related Words

• property owner
• proprietor