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• lord
  lord

  noun

  a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.
• Lord
  Lord

  noun

  a title given to God or Jesus Christ

lord

American  

[lawrd] / lɔrd /

noun

• lords
  plural

1. a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.

2. a person who exercises authority from property rights; an owner of land, houses, etc.

3. a person who is a leader or has great influence in a chosen profession.

   the great lords of banking.

4. a feudal superior; the proprietor of a manor.

5. a titled nobleman or peer; a person whose ordinary appellation contains by courtesy the title Lord or some higher title.

6. Lords, the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal comprising the House of Lords

7. Lord, (in Britain)

   1. the title of certain high officials (used with some other title, name, or the like).

      Lord Mayor of London.

   2. the formally polite title of a bishop.

      Lord Bishop of Durham.

   3. the title informally substituted for Marquis, Earl, Viscount, etc., as in the use of Lord Kitchener for Earl Kitchener.

8. Lord, the Supreme Being; God.

9. Christianity. Lord, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

10. Astrology. a planet having dominating influence.

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interjection

1. Often Lord (used in exclamatory phrases to express surprise, elation, etc.).

   Lord, what a beautiful day!

idioms

1. lord it, to assume airs of importance and authority; behave arrogantly or dictatorially; domineer.

   to lord it over the menial workers.

lord ¹ British  

/ lɔːd /

noun

1. a person who has power or authority over others, such as a monarch or master

2. a male member of the nobility, esp in Britain

3. (in medieval Europe) a feudal superior, esp the master of a manor Compare lady

4. a husband considered as head of the household (archaic except in the facetious phrase lord and master )

5. astrology a planet having a dominating influence

6. a respectful form of address used to a judge, bishop, or nobleman

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verb

1. rare (tr) to make a lord of (a person)

2. to act in a superior manner towards (esp in the phrase lord it over )

Lord ² British  

/ lɔːd /

noun

1. a title given to God or Jesus Christ

2. 1. a title given to men of high birth, specifically to an earl, marquess, baron, or viscount

   2. a courtesy title given to the younger sons of a duke or marquess

   3. the ceremonial title of certain high officials or of a bishop or archbishop

      Lord Mayor

      Lord of Appeal

      Law Lord

      Lord Bishop of Durham

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interjection

1. (sometimes not capital) an exclamation of dismay, surprise, etc

   Good Lord!

   Lord only knows!

lord More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing lord

• drunk as a lord

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lordless
  adjective
• lordlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lords
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lord

First recorded before 900; Middle English lord, lover(e)d, Old English hlāford, hlāfweard literally, “loaf-keeper”; see loaf ¹, ward; cf. lady ( def. )

Explanation

A lord is powerful person who's in charge, or is a ruler or master. Sometimes tigers are described as the lords of the jungle, because they're the strongest, most ferocious predators that live there. You'll most often see lord describing a man who holds authority or strong influence in a particular area, like a wealthy CEO who's known as a "lord of capitalism," or the head of a large drug-dealing enterprise who's called a "drug lord." Originally, a lord was a landowner during the feudal period in medieval Europe. Even today, a British lord holds an elite title marking him as a baron, earl, or duke.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lord Lord lords

As host of ‘The Traitors,’ Cumming loves to dress up and play lord of the castle, but in Russell T Davies’ limited series, his latest dramatic role, he aims to shake people up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Robert Briscoe, who was both a celebrated Irish revolutionary and an Orthodox Jew, became lord mayor of Dublin in the 1950s.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Xenophon became in essence a mercenary lord, somewhat like the condottieri of Renaissance Italy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

He’s been called a thief, a benefactor, a commoner, a lord, a killer and a hero.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

The kitten landed on the ground in front of his master, then arched his back and hissed at the lord of the abyss.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

The author, lining up with the bond-loving tomato-growers, borrows his title from Lord Macaulay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Susan Disney Lord, board co-chair of Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, said the proposed measure offers hope by supporting “breakthrough immunology research that would change the future for millions of people.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The admission comes after the inquiry's chair, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, called the discovery "troubling" and "extraordinary news".

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

After he tells her he’s just hungry, they get lunch, where Kedric, 32, prays that the Lord will “heal us from Pilates.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

After the night of the curse breaking, the portraits of Admiral Percival Racine Ashton and the Honorable Pax Ashton that hung in Lord Fredrick’s study were never the same.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Celtic captain Callum McGregor lords it over days like this, but the supreme central midfielder was Dan Neil, not just in his outstanding goals but in the control and the leadership he exerted.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Julian lords over not one but two swanky adjoining townhouses stuffed with antiques.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

When gunpowder arrived and the emerging nation-states rendered obsolete the old art of war dominated by feudal lords entrenched in their castles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

Colombia is also trying to emerge from 50 years of fighting spawned by a complex blend of leftist rebels, paramilitaries and drug lords.

From Barron's ● Mar. 8, 2026

How frustrating it must be to come so close to your goal, to have Oak and the crown in one place, to have the lords and ladies of Faerie assembled.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black