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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

No longer content to coexist with natural-born beings or seeking to be more lifelike, synthetic humanoids lord over what’s left of humanity.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

But good lord, they are bad at this.

From Salon ● Jul. 17, 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

An image of Francis Bacon, the English lord chancellor, is mislabeled as the friar Roger Bacon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

“You better. If you drop the lord chancellor’s apple, you’ll go to prison.”

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

Former cabinet minister and Labour Party deputy leader Lord Tom Watson has become a senior vice president at US tech firm Palantir.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

“Voice of a Century” is not intended to supplant Allan Keiler’s definitive 2000 biography—one of Mr. Tommasini’s main sources, along with Anderson’s endearing but circumspect 1956 autobiography, “My Lord, What a Morning.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

This week, AI insiders voiced concerns about how quickly the technology is developing, Lord Byron returned to London's Hyde Park, and a magazine borrowed from a US library was returned 132 years late.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The Mayor of London, Lord Sadiq Khan, has also raised concerns about its climate and noise impact.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

In reality he was Lord Fredrick’s own father, Edward Ashton!

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

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

However, this tourney attracts lords and knights from great houses throughout Westeros, including a couple whose families figure prominently in “Game of Thrones.”

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026

A high official and wealthy man, he lived in a style that has no equivalent in Karhide, even among lords of a great Domain.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin