landlord
Americannoun
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a person or organization that owns and leases apartments to others.
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a person who owns and leases land, buildings, etc.
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a person who owns or runs an inn, lodging house, etc.
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a landowner.
noun
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a man who owns and leases property
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a man who owns or runs a lodging house, pub, etc
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archaic the lord of an estate
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing landlord
Chinese History - Introductory
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Little Richard (1932–2020): Tribute List
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Chinese History - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the landlord now has an alter ego on social media, "The Grumpy Landlord".
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
Landlord Luke Honeychurch, said the tax increase on his pub would leave him "unable to pay myself a wage at all".
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
Appeared in the November 5, 2025, print edition as 'Big Office Landlord Sues Its Bondholders'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 3, 2025
Landlord advocates called the the law one-sided and said the city should also ban harassment by tenants toward landlords.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2024
Landlord calls it an apartment but it ain’t nothing but a room tucked in between and on top of a lot of other rooms.
From "Finding Langston" by Lesa Cline-Ransome
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.
