Forms: 1 hláfweard, hláford, -erd, (hlábard, hláfard), 2 laford, -erde, hlouerd, leverd, lhoaverd, lourde, lowerd, Orm. laferrd, 2–4 laverd, (3 lavard, læverd), 3–4 lover(e)d, lovuerde, (4 lhord, lorld(e), 4–6 lorde (4 gen. pl. lordene), 4, 6–8 lard(e, 4– lord. Also Sc. LAIRD. In exclamations 6 leard, 7–8 lawd, 8 laud, lurd; also LUD. [OE. hláford, once hláfweard (Ps. civ. 17; Thorpe’s ‘to hálf-wearde’ is a misprint: see note in Gr.-Wülck.), repr. a prehistoric form *hlaiƀward-, f. *hlaiƀ (OE. hláf) bread, LOAF + *ward (OE. weard) keeper (see WARD sb.). In its primary sense the word (which is absent from the other Teut. langs.) denotes the head of a household in his relation to the servants and dependents who ‘eat his bread’ (cf. OE. hláf-ǽta, lit. ‘bread-eater,’ a servant); but it had already acquired a wider application before the literary period of OE. The development of sense has been largely influenced by the adoption of the word as the customary rendering of L. dominus. The late ON. lávarðr is adopted from ME.
With regard to the etymological sense, cf. mod.G. brotherr, lit. ‘bread-lord,’ an employer of labor. In the mod. Scandinavian langs. ‘meat-mother’ (Sw. matmoder, Da. madmoder, Icel. matmóđir) is the designation applied by servants to their mistress.
For the phonology of the OE. word see Bülbring Ae. Elementarbuch, §§ 367, 411, 562. In the 14th c. the word became monosyllabic through the dropping of the intervocalic v and the crasis of the vowels thus brought into contact.]
I. A master, ruler.
† 1. A master of servants; the male head of a household. Obs.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxiv. 46. Eadiʓ ðe ðeʓn ðone miððy cymes hlaferd his on-fand sua doende.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., John xv. 15. Se ðeowa nat hwæt se hlafor[d] deð.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 241. Nan ne mai twan hlaforde … samod þowie.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1388. Ðis maiden wile ic … to min louerdes bofte bi-crauen.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 6691. If he [his thain] liue ouer a dai or tuin, Þe lauerd sal vnderli na pain.
c. 1420. Sir Amadace (Camden), l. He wold gif hom toe so muche, or ellus more, As any lord wold euyr or qware.
c. 1450. Holland, Houlat, 145. Bot thir lordis belyf [thai] the letteris has tane.
1611. Bible, Matt. xxiv. 46. Blessed is that seruant, whome his Lord when he commeth, shall finde so doing.
2. One who has dominion over others as his subjects, or to whom service and obedience are due; a master, chief, prince, sovereign. Now only rhetorical. Also lord and master.
Beowulf (Z.), 3141. Aleʓdon ða to middes mærne þeoden … hlaford leofne.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 13. Ohthere sæde his hlaforde, Ælfrede cyninge, þæt [etc.].
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 221. Forte don him [sc. man] understonden, þat he [sc. God] is hlaford was.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 275. Ðo ne miȝte he [Lucifer] non louerd ðhauen.
c. 1300. Havelok, 607. Þis is ure eir þat shal ben louerd of denemark.
c. 1330. Amis. & Amil., 2030. The squier biheld the coupes tho, First his and his lordes also.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 174. A wel-langaged lud let þe king sone Aspien … ho were lord of hur land.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 3405. Swiche a lorld of lederes ne liued nouȝt, þei held.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 4054. Agamynon the gret was … Leder of þo lordis.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 629/22. Ciliarcha, a lord of thowsond knyȝtes.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, X. v. 4. Eneas, the Troiane prynce and lard.
1530. Palsgr., 680/1. It is a pytuouse case … whan subjectes rebell agaynst their naturall lorde.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 52. Stoope Englande stoope, & learne to knowe thy lorde & master.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. xx. 185. The Citie of Cusco, (the ancient Court of the Lordes of those Realmes).
1628. Digby, Voy. Medit. (Camden), 42. Ceremonies of dutie … they said were due to him being lord of the port.
1667. Milton, P. L., XII. 70. Man over men He made not Lord.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F. (1869), II. xlii. 575. The common people [in Mingrelia] are in a state of servitude to their lords.
1841. G. P. R. James, Brigand, iii. Who is lord here upon the side of the mountain but I?
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xiii. III. 321. A race which reverenced no lord, no king but himself.
transf. 1588. Shaks., L. L. L., IV. i. 38. When they [wives] striue to be Lords ore their Lords. Ibid. (1596), Merch. V., III. ii. 169. But now I [Portia] was the Lord Of this faire mansion, master of my seruants.
b. fig. One who or something that has the mastery or preeminence. Lords of (the) creation: mankind; now jocularly, men as opposed to women.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 782. O wityng bath god and ill Ȝee suld be lauerds at ȝour will.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VIII. xvi. (1495), 322. The sonne is the lorde of planetes.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 229. The Lord of Wyndis … God Eolus.
1591. Spenser, Ruins Rome, xiv. As men in Summer fearles passe the foord Which is in Winter lord of all the plaine.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., V. i. 3. My bosomes L. [sic] sits lightly in his throne.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. ii. 119. There are some windes which blow in certaine regions, and are, as it were, Lordes thereof.
1643. [Angier], Lanc. Vall. Achor, 7. Fire is a cruell Lord.
1667. Dryden, Ess. Dram. Poesie, Dram. Wks. 1725, I. 19. He is the envy of one, who is Lord in the art of quibbling. Ibid. (1697), Virg. Georg., III. 380. Love is Lord of all.
1744. Hopart in Lett. C’tess Suffolk (1824), II. 207. I … thought … they [women] might attain to a sagacity equal to that of the lords of the creation.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), I. 400. The lowest animal finds more conveniencies in the wilds of nature, than he who boasts himself their lord.
1779. T. Jefferson, Corr., Wks. 1859, I. 213. Are they so far lords of right and wrong as that [etc.].
1797. Mrs. A. M. Bennett, Beggar Girl, II. x. 189. ’Tis really a mighty silly thing for a lord of the creation … to take up his residence in a boarding house … where there are pretty women.
1830. J. G. Strutt, Sylva Brit., 10. The attribute of strength by which the lord of the woods is more peculiarly distinguished.
1884. Browning, Ferishtah, Family, 27. A leech renowned World-wide, confessed the lord of surgery.
† c. vocatively. Sometimes = mod. Sir!
c. 1050. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 322. Hyt ʓedafenað la wynsuma hlaford.
c. 1205. Lay., 14078. Þa queð Hengest to þan kinge, Lauerd hærcne tiðende.
c. 1300. Havelok, 621. Lowerd, we sholen þe wel fede.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 1439. Leue lord & ludes lesten to mi sawes!
15[?]. Adam Bel, 467, in Hazl., E. P. P., II. 158. They sayed, lord we beseche the here, That ye wyll graunt vs grace.
d. An owner, possessor, proprietor (of land, houses, etc.). Now only poet. or rhetorical. (Cf. LANDLORD.)
a. 1300. Cursor M., 601–602. Als oure lauerd has heuen in hand Sua suld man be lauerd of land.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VII. 156. Amonges lowere lordes þi londe shal be departed.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 128. To mak me Lord of my awin.
1480. Waterf. Arch., in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 316. All suche lordes as have gutters betuxte thar houses.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xxxv. (1887). 125. Like two tenantes in one house belonging to seuerall lordes.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Sad Sheph., II. i. A mightie Lord of Swine! Ibid. I am a Lord of other geere!
1674. Ray, Collect. Words, Making Salt, 142. Divers persons have interest in the Brine pit, so that it belongs not all to one Lord.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 189. Lord of few Acres, and those barren too. Ibid., Æneid, XII. 535. Turnus … Wrench’d from his feeble hold the shining Sword; And plung’d it in the Bosom of its Lord.
e. Mining. (See quot.)
1874. J. H. Collins, Metal Mining, Gloss., Lord, the owner of the land in which a mine is situated is called the ‘lord.’
f. A ‘magnate’ in some particular trade. (Cf. King.) Often used with some transferred notion of sense 8.
1823, etc. [see COTTON LORD].
1841. Cobden, in Morley, Life (1902), 28. The cotton lords are not more popular than the landlords.
1900. Westm. Gaz., 17 Jan., 10/1. A suspicion that the ‘coal-lords’ are hoarding their supplies.
3. spec. A feudal superior; the proprietor of a fee, manor, etc. So lord of the manor (see MANOR). Lord mesne, paramount (see those words). † Lord in gross (see quot. 1696, and cf. GROSS B. 2 e).
Lord of Ireland (Dominus Hiberniæ) was part of the official designation of the Kings of England from Henry II. to Henry VII.
a. 1000. O. E. Chron., an. 924. Hine ʓeces … to hlaforde Scotta cyning.
1258. Charter Hen. III., in Tyrrell, Hist. Eng. (1700), II. App. 25. Henry thurg Godes fultome King on Engleneloande Lhoauerd on Yrloand [etc.].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3662. Cadour erl of cornwayle … To þe king is louerd wende.
1433. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 447/2. Savyng allwey to the Lorde of the Fee, eschates. Ibid. (1435), 487. Aswell the Lordes and ye Citezeins of Citees, as the Lordes and Burgeises.
1497. Act 12 Hen. VII., c. 12. Preamb., The Kyng of Scottis … ought … to … holde of you Sovereign Lorde his seid realme.
1530. Palsgr., 675/1. He was baylyffe of the towne, but the lorde hath put hym out.
1563. Homilies, II. Rogation Week, IV. (1859), 496. The Lords records … be perverted … to the disinheriting of the right owner.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., II. 110. The antient Family of Des Ewes, Dynasts or Lords of the dition of Kessell.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), Lord in Gross, is he who is a Lord without a Mannor, as the King in respect of his Crown.
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., 324. Lord of the land or fee.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), III. 427. The lord may seise the copyhold to his own use.
1839. Keightley, Hist. Eng., I. 77. The rights of the Lord of a town extended to the levying of tolls and customs.
1901. Speaker, 11 May, 149/2. It might have weakened the feudal relation between lord and tenant.
4. A husband. Now only poet. and humorous. (Cf. LADY sb. 7.)
831. Charter, in Sweet, O. E. Texts, 445. Ymbe ðet lond et cert ðe hire eðelmod hire hlabard salde.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 52. Eue … nom & et þerof & ȝef hire louerd.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8902. Damaisele … þi louerd ssal abbe an name Vor him & vor is eirs vair wiþoute blame.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 3918. Scho [Gaynore] kayres to Karelyone, and kawghte hir a vaile,… And alle for falsede, and frawde, and fere of hir louerde!
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., V. ii. 131. Tell these headstrong women What dutie they doe owe their Lords and husbands.
1681. Viscountess Campden, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 56. My Lady Skidmore and her lord was at Mr. Comsbys house upon a visette.
1860–6. Patmore, Angel in Ho., II. II. iv. Love-mild Honoria, trebly mild With added loves of lord and child.
1861. Miss Yonge, Yng. Stepmother, xxv. 371. She was come to take leave of home, for her lord was not to be dissuaded from going to London by the evening’s train.
5. [Cf. 2 b.] Astrol. The planet that has a dominant influence over an event, period, region, etc.
1391. [see ASCENDANT].
1585. Lupton, Thous. Notable Th. (1675), 93. When the Almuten or the Lord of the Ascendent is infortunate in his fall.
1653. R. Sanders, Physiogn., 152. The Sun, when he is Alfridary or Lord of a Cholerick, he causeth him to be of a brown colour.
1819. Wilson, Dict. Astrol., Lord, that planet is called the lord of a sign whose house it is…. The lord of a house is that planet of which the sign or domal dignity is in the cusp of such house…. The lord of the geniture is that planet which has most dignities in a figure…. The lord of the hour is the planet supposed to govern the planetary hour at the moment of a nativity, or at the time of asking a horary question. The lord of the year is that planet which has most dignities, or is strongest in a revolutional figure…. The lord of the geniture is … supposed to rule the disposition and propensities of the native.
6. The Lord (vocatively Lord): God. Also (the) Lord God, and occas. my, thy, our (now rarely: see 7), his, etc. Lord. Cf. DRIGHTIN.
In the O. T. the Lord, a translation of the Vulgate Dominus, LXX. ὁ κύριος, commonly represents the ineffable name [Hebrew] (see JEHOVAH), for which ADONAI was substituted by the Jews in reading; in a few instances Adonai occurs in the Hebrew text.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 562. Sy lof þam Hlaforde ðe leofað on ecnysse.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 71. Lauerd god we biddeð þus.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 7. Ðat ic am swiðe forȝelt aȝeanes mine laferde god almihtin.
c. 1200. Ormin, 11391. Þe birrþ biforr þin Laferrd Godd Cneolenn meoclike & lutenn.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 33. To thaunen ðis werdes biginninge, ðe, leuerd god, to wurðinge.
a. 1300–1400. Cursor M., 6163 (Gött.). To moyses þan vr lauerd teld, Quat wise þai suld þair pask held.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. I. 131. For to loue þi louerd leuere þen þiseluen.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings xviii. 36. Lord God of Abraham, and of Ysaac, and of Yrael.
a. 1400. Pistill of Susan, 164. Bi þe lord and þe lawe þat we onne leeue.
c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 2093. But the wey thedyrward to holde be we lothe, That oft sythe causeth the good Lorde to be wrothe.
1560. Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 328. Be the lewing Lord, the eternal God … I do heir promise … that [etc.].
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., III. ii. 57. The breath of worldly men cannot depose The Deputie elected by the Lord. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 161. The Lord increase this businesse.
1728. P. Walker, Life Peden (1827), 45. At Bothwel-bridge … the Lord’s People fell and fled before the Enemy.
1827. C. Simeon, in Life (1847), 609. This is the Lord’s work, and fit for a Sabbath-day.
1897. R. Kipling, Recessional. Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet.
b. Phrases. (The) Lord knows who, what, how, etc.: used flippantly to express emphatically one’s own ignorance of a matter. Lord have mercy (on us): (a) in serious use, as a prayer (it used to be chalked on the door of a plague-stricken house); (b) in trivial use (vulgarly lord-a-mercy and in other corrupt forms: cf. LAWKS), as an interjection expressing astonishment. Similarly (in trivial use only) Lord bless me.
† Lord have mercy on me, the ‘iliac passion.’
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomenclator, 433. Ileus … the Illiake passion … which the homelier sort of Phisicians doe call, Lorde haue mercy vpon me.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 419. Write, Lorde haue mercie on vs, on those three.
1592. Nashe, Summers last Will, 1706, Wks. (Grosart), VI. 153. I am sick, I must dye: Lord haue mercy on vs!
c. 1634. R. West, in Randolph’s Poems (1668), B 5. The Titles of their Satyrs fright some, more Then Lord have mercy writ upon a door.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, ccxlvi. (1708), 262. ’Tis not a bare Lord have Mercy upon us, that will help the Cart out of the Mire.
1713. Swift, Cadenus & Vanessa, Wks. 1755, III. II. 30. She was at lord knows what expence To form a nymph of wit and sense. Ibid. (1722), Stella’s Birthday, ibid. 114. It cost me lord knows how much time To shape it into sense and rhyme.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pickle, xxx. What became of him afterwards, Lord in heaven knows.
1784. H. Walpole, Lett., 8 June (1858), VIII. 480. Mr. Conway wonders why I do not talk of Voltaire’s ‘Memoirs.’ Lord bless me! I saw it two months ago.
1808. Eleanor Sleath, Bristol Heiress, V. 159. There she died. Lord-a-mercy upon those that had a hand in such a business.
1830. Gen. P. Thompson, Exerc. (1842), I. 253. Meetings to be called by the Lord Lieutenant,… and the Lord knows who.
1846. Mrs. Gore, Sk. Eng. Char. (1852), 33. People comprised under the comprehensive designation of ‘the Lord knows who.’
1888. J. Payn, Myst. Mirbridge, I. iii. 49. Lord a mercy, is that how she talks?
c. As interjection; a mere exclamation of surprise originating from the use in invocations. (Cf. LOR, LUD.)
Now only in profane or trivial use; in 14–16th c. often employed in dignified and even religious writing.
c. 1384. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 358. Lord! in tyme of Jesus Crist … were men not bounden to shryve hem þus.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 298. O lord, whi is it so greet difference betwix a cirurgian & a phisician.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 161. Lorde how glad the poore people were of this Pardone.
1560–77. Misogonus, III. iii. 69 (Brandl). O Leard, Leard, wone woude take him for a foole by his gowne and his capp.
1564–78. Bulleyn, Dial. agst. Pest. (1888), 10. Lorde God, howe are you chaunged!
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., III. i. 50. O Lord I must laugh.
1632. Massinger & Field, Fatal Dowry, IV. i. O Lard, hee has made me smell (for all the world) like [etc.].
1687. Congreve, Old Bach., II. iii. Lard, Cousin, you talk odly.
1721. Amherst, Terræ Filius, No. 44 (1754), 236. Lawd! lawd! Dick, what shall’s zay to our Kate, for leaving her at whome?
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. 177. Laud, madam,… I wonder you so much disturb yourself.
1792. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Odes to Gt. Duke, vii. Wks. 1792, III. 10. Lord! what a buying, reading, what a racket!
1837. Marryat, P. Keene, xxii. Lord, what a state I shall be in till I know what has taken place.
7. As a title of Jesus Christ. Commonly Our Lord (now often with capital O); also the Lord.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 243. Ure laford ihesu crist þe seið Sine me nichil potestis facere.
c. 1200. Ormin, Ded. 186. Forr an godnesse uss hafeþþ don þe Laferrd Crist onn erþe.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 7. Ac bidde we alle ure lauerd Crist.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 644. Lauerd, wune wið me.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28088. To my lard ic am of-sene to crist ic haue vn-buxum bene.
a. 1300. Crede, in Maskell, Mon. Rit., II. 240. Ihesu Krist [h]is anelepi sone, hure laverd.
c. 1400. Lay Folks Mass Bk., App. iii. 125. Þou art a sooþfaste leche, lord.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xc. 3. Oure Lorde Jhesu … Fastit him self oure exampill to be.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VI., 113. And it happened in the night of the Assencion of our lorde, that Pothon … issued out of Champeigne.
1579. E. K., Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., Gen. Argt. § 4. Our … eternall redeemer the L. Christ.
1653. W. Basse, in Walton’s Angler, iii. 81. For so our Lord was pleased, when He Fishers made Fishers of men.
1823. Bentham, Not Paul, 26. He informs the Lord what he had heard about Paul.
1882. Tennyson, In Mem. W. G. Ward. How loyal in the following of thy Lord!
b. (In) the year of our Lord († God), † of our Lord’s incarnation: = ANNO DOMINI.
1389. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 89. In ye ȝere of houre louerde a Thousande yre hundred sixti and seuene.
1463. Bury Wills (Camden), 19. The day and the yeer of oure lord of my departyng from this wourld.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 208 b. This was in the yere of our lordes blessed incarnacion .M.C.lxx.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., V. 268, marg. King Achai dies the ȝeir … of our Lourd 819.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. xi. 154. In the yeere of our Lord God, one thousand five hundred seaventy nine.
1625. Purchas, Pilgrims, II. 1705. In the yeare of our Lord God 1567.
c. In certain syntactical combinations: The Lord’s Prayer [= L. oratio Dominica], the prayer taught by Jesus to His disciples: see Matt. vi. 9–13. The Lord’s Supper [= L. cena Dominica, Gr. τὸ κυριακὸν δεῖπνον 1 Cor. xi. 24], the Holy Communion. The Lord’s table [= Gr. τραπέζα κυρίου 1 Cor. x. 21: cf. God’s, the Lord’s board (see BOARD sb. 6)] = ALTAR 2 b; also the Holy Communion. Also LORD’S DAY.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Public Baptism, The Crede, *the Lordes prayer, and the tenne commaundementes.
1646. J. Hall, Poems, I. 13. [She] makes one single farthing bear The Creed, Commandments and Lords-prayer.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U.S., II. xxx. 248. She had never learned the Lord’s prayer in English.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Cor. xi. 20. Therfore ȝou comynge to gidere into oon, now it is not for to ete *the Lordis sopere.
1555. Ridley (title), A brief Declaracion Of the Lordes Supper.
1645. Fuller, Good Th. in Bad T. (1646), 141. The Lords Supper, ordained by our Saviour to conjoyn our Affections, hath disjoyned our Judgements.
1755. Chamberlayne, Pres. St. Gt. Brit., II. II. (ed. 17), 75. Some Time before the Lord’s Supper is administred, the Congregation is to have Notice of it from the Pulpit.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Cor. x. 21. Ye cannot be partetakers off *the lordes table, and off the table of deuyls.
1660. Jer. Taylor, Worthy Commun., i. § 1. 22. It [the Holy Sacrament] is by the Spirit of God called … the Lord’s Table.
1704. Nelson, Fest. & Fasts, II. iv. (1707), 494. Upon the Penalty of being excluded from the Lord’s Table.
1852. Hook, Ch. Dict. (1871), 467. The Lord’s Table is one of the names given to the altar in Christian churches.
II. As a designation of rank or official dignity.
In these applications it is not used vocatively, exc. in the form my Lord (see 15) and as a prefixed title (see 13).
8. In early use employed vaguely for any man of exalted position in a kingdom or commonwealth, and in a narrower sense applied to the feudal tenants holding directly of the king by military or other honorable service: see BARON 1. In modern use, equivalent to NOBLEMAN in its current sense: A peer (usually, a temporal peer) of the realm, or one who by courtesy (see 13) is entitled to the prefix Lord, or some higher title, as a part of his ordinary appellation.
13[?]. Coer de L., 2284. We are betrayd and y-nome! Horse and harness, lords, all and some!
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 4539. To fare out as fast with his fader to speke & with lordesse [= lordes] of þat lond.
1386. Rolls of Parlt., III. 225/1. To the moost noble and worthiest Lordes, moost ryghtful and wysest Conseille to owre lige Lorde the Kyng.
a. 1420. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 442. Men myghten lordis knowe By there arraye, from oþir folke.
1453. Rolls of Parlt., V. 266/2. If such persone bee of the estate of a Lord, as Duc, Marques, Erle, Viscount or Baron.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., III. (1520), 26/1. It was denyed hym … by the instygacyon of a lord called Pompei.
1505. in Mem. Hen. VII. (Rolls), 276. What attendance he hath abouts hym of lords and nobles of his reame.
1548. Latimer, Ploughers (Arb.), 25. For ever sence the Prelates were made Loordes and nobles the ploughe standeth.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., IV. i. 19. Princes, and Noble Lords: What answer shall I make to this base man?
1614. Selden, Titles Hon., 59. Our English name Lord, whereby we and the Scots stile all such as are of the Greater Nobilitie i. Barons, as also Bishops.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, III. iii. The Marquess played off the two Lords and Sir Berdmore against his former friend.
1876. Browning, Shop, v. He’s social, takes his rest On Sundays, with a Lord for guest.
1900. Daily Express, 21 July, 5/7. The Englishman of to-day still dearly loves a lord.
b. Phrases. To live like a lord: to fare luxuriously. To treat (a person) like a lord: to entertain sumptuously, to treat with profound deference. Drunk as a lord: completely intoxicated; so † to drink like a lord. Similarly, to swear like a lord.
1531. Elyot, Gov., I. xxvi. (1880), I. 275. For they wyll say he that swereth depe, swereth like a lorde.
1623. Middleton & Rowley, Sp. Gipsy, IV. i. (1653), F 4. Flowre bancks or Mosse be thy bourd, Water thy wine, San. And drinke like a Lord.
1651. Evelyn, Charact. Eng. (1659), 48. The Gentlemen are most of them very intemperate, yet the Proverb goes, ‘As drunk as a Lord.’
1681. T. Flatman, Heraclitus Ridens, No. 6 (1713), I. 36. They were as drunk as Lords with Bottle-Air.
1770. Gentl. Mag., XL. 560. As drunk as a Lord.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, II. vii. ¶ 3. The landlord … said,… we will treat you like a lord.
1861. Thackeray, B. Lyndon, xviii. (1869), 254. She ran screaming through the galleries, and I, as tipsy as a lord, came staggering after.
1892. Sir W. Harcourt, Speech, 20 April. We had changed that now, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer lived like a lord.
† c. occas. A baron as distinguished from one of higher rank. Obs. (Cf. 13.)
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 7 b. Farre excellyng ye state of lordes, erles, dukes or kynges.
d. Lord-in-waiting, Lord of the Bedchamber: the designation given to noblemen holding certain offices in attendance on the person of the sovereign.
1717. H. Pelham, in Lett. C’tess Suffolk (1824), I. 18. The King forbad the lord of the bedchamber inviting Lord Townshend … to dine with him at Newmarket.
1755. Gentl. Mag., XXV. 184. His majesty went to the house of peers, attended by … the ld of the bedchamber in waiting.
1860. W. G. Clark, in Vac. Tour., 45. Furniture … the property, I suppose, of Goldsticks, and Chamberlains, and Lords-in-waiting.
a. 1865. Greville, Mem., II. (1885), II. 44. She had already given orders to the Lord-in-waiting to put all the Ministers down to whist.
1886. Encycl. Brit., XXI. 37/2. There are eight lords and eight grooms,… described as ‘of the bedchamber’ or ‘in waiting,’ according as the reigning sovereign is a king or a queen.
9. pl. The Lords: the peers, temporal and spiritual, as constituting the higher of the two bodies composing the legislature (of England, Scotland, and Ireland, when they existed as separate kingdoms; afterwards of the kingdom of Great Britain; and now of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). The Lords Temporal: the lay peers. The Lords Spiritual: the bishops who are peers of the realm, and (in England before the Reformation) the mitred abbots. The Lords’ Act (see quot. 1800).
This branch of the legislature now consists of the English noblemen of baronial rank, the English bishops (with some exceptions), and elected representatives of the peers of Scotland and Ireland.
1451. Paston Lett., I. 204. To make requisicion … to the Lords espirituallx and temporelx in this present Parlement assembled.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 349. The Lordes of the upper house, and the common house assembled together.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., X. vii. § 1. The House of Commons presented to the Lords Spirituall and Temporall a Petition.
1675. Marvell, Corr., ccliv. Wks. 1872–5, II. 474. To desire the Lords concurrence herein.
1751. H. Walpole, Lett. (1846), II. 388. In the Lords there were but 12 to 106, and the former the most inconsiderable men in that House.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., I. 50. The legislature of the kingdom is entrusted to three distinct powers,… first, the king; secondly, the lords spiritual and temporal.
1800. Asiat. Ann. Reg., State Papers, 7/1. Rules for extending to insolvent debtors the relief intended by act 32 Geo. II. commonly called ‘The Lords’ Act.’
1812. Moore, Intercepted Lett., ii. 47. Quite upturning branch and root Lords, Commons, and Burdétt to boot.
1830. Croly, Geo. IV., 218. An embassage from the lords and commons was sent with them from London.
a. 1865. Greville, Mem., II. (1885), II. 408. He got the House of Commons to sit on Saturday,… in order to send the Bill up to the Lords on Monday.
1879. McCarthy, Hist. Own Times (1887), II. 257. The Lords … suspended the sitting until eleven at night.
1884. S. Dowell, Tax. & Taxes Eng., II. 303. The duke of Wellington leading in the Lords.
1897. ‘Ouida,’ Massarenes, iv. Don’t suppose I shall ever live to get into the Lords.
b. House of Lords, † Lords’ House (see HOUSE sb. 4 d).
1672. Petty, Pol. Anat. (1691), 35. [They] may … be call’d by Writ into the Lords House of England.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), V. 332. This case having been heard in the House of Lords, the Judges were directed to give their opinions.
1845. Polson, Eng. Law, in Encycl. Metrop., II. 811/1. The House of Lords is in the habit of referring certain bills to the opinion of the learned judges.
† c. transf. in Rom. Hist. = Senators. Obs.
1618. Bolton, Florus (1636), 212. The Knights, and Gentlemen of Rome separated themselves from the Lords.
10. Sc. In various collocations (chiefly Hist.), as Lords of the Articles, of the Congregation, of Daily Council, of Justiciary, of Police, of Regality, of Session (see these sbs.).
11. Applied, with subjoined defining word or phrase, to the individual members (whether peers or not) of a Board appointed to perform the duties of some high office of state that has been put in commission, as in Lords Commissioners (in ordinary language simply Lords) of the Admiralty, of the Treasury; Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal. Also Lords Justices (of Ireland): the Commissioners to whom, in the early 18th c., the viceregal authority was entrusted. Civil Lord: the one civilian member (besides the First Lord) of the Board of Admiralty, the others being Naval Lords.
1642. C. Vernon, Consid. Exch., 54. Lords Commissioners of the Treasury.
1711. Swift, Jrnl. to Stella, 16 May. Three books I got from the Lords of the Treasury for the college. Ibid. (1724), Drapier’s Lett., Wks. 1755, V. II. 36. As if it were a dispute between William Wood on the one part, and the lords justices, privy-council, and both houses of parliament on the other.
1739. Lady Murray, Mem. Baillies (1822), 24. He was made one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and soon after one of the Lords of the Treasury.
1759. Dilworth, Pope, 72. He was one of the lord-justices of Ireland.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 151. The Lords Commissioners in Barnes v. Crowe appeared to have held, that [etc.]…. Lord Commissioner Eyre stated the particular circumstances.
1834. Marryat, P. Simple, xxxix. A letter from your lordship to the First Lord —, only a few lines.
1879. McCarthy, Hist. Own Times (1887), II. 409. Mr. Gathorne Hardy was made Secretary for War and Mr. Ward Hunt First Lord of the Admiralty.
1884. S. Dowell, Tax. & Taxes Eng., II. 116. George Grenville as a junior lord of the admiralty.
1893. Maxwell, W. H. Smith, II. 182. He … became First Lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons.
1898. Hazell’s Ann., 447. The Works Department of the Admiralty is presided over by officers of the Royal Engineers, its supervision resting with the civil lord.
12. Forming part of various official titles, e.g., Lord (High) Admiral, Lord Chamberlain, Lord (High) Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice, Lord High Commissioner, Lord Deputy, Lord Marshal, Lord President, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Treasurer, Lord Warden, etc., for which see the second member in each case. † Lord (High) General, a commander-in-chief (obs.). Lord-rector, an honorary title for the elected chief in certain Scotch Universities; hence Lord-rectorship. Also LORD-LIEUTENANT, LORD MAYOR.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, IV. i. 116. [The Colonel] ought to know how to performe the parts and office of a Lord high Generall.
1650. Whitelocke, Mem. (1853), III. 207 (25 June). The lord general Fairfax. Ibid., 237 (7 July). The council of state ordered the narrative made by the lord general’s [Cromwell’s] messenger to be read in all churches.
1660. [see 15 a].
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), II. x. 287. The parliament having given him [Monk] a commission as lord-general of all the forces in the three kingdoms.
1864. Burton, Scot Abr., I. v. 249. Hence the catalogue of Lord Rectors soars far above respectability and appropriateness: it is brilliant.
1867. Nation (N. Y.), 3 Jan., 4/2. The candidates for the lord-rectorship of Aberdeen University this next year are Mr. Grote, historian, and Mr. Grant Duff.
b. In ceremonious use, prefixed to the titles of bishops, whether peers of parliament or not.
1639. (title) A Relation of the Conference between William Lawd … now Lord-Arch-Bishop of Canterbury: and Mr. Fisher the Jesuite.
a. 1673. W. Blaxton, in Bp. L. Coleman, Ch. Amer., ii. 23. I came from England because I did not like the lord-bishops, but I cannot join with you, because I would not be under the lord-brethren.
1858. Royal Charter University Lond., § 5. The Lord Bishop Maltby; the Lord Bishop of St. Davids.
† c. Formerly sometimes prefixed to a title of nobility. Obs.; but see 15 a (c).
1444. Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 13. Quhat time it be plessand to the said Lord Erle [of Orkynnay].
13. As a prefixed title, forming part of a person’s customary appellation. Abbreviated Ld., formerly † L. (pl. LL.), Lo.
The rules now accepted for its use are as follows. In other than strictly ceremonial use it may be substituted for ‘Marquis,’ ‘Earl,’ or ‘Viscount’ (whether denoting the rank of a peer, or applied ‘by courtesy’ to the eldest son of a peer or higher rank); the word of, when it occurs in the more formal designation, being dropped. Thus ‘Lord Hartington,’ ‘Lord Derby,’ ‘Lord Manvers,’ ‘Lord Palmerston,’ may be used instead of ‘The Marquis of Hartington,’ ‘The Earl of Derby,’ ‘Earl Manvers,’ ‘Viscount Palmerston.’ A baron (whether a peer, or a peer’s eldest son known by the title of his father’s barony) is always called by his title of peerage (either a surname or a territorial designation) preceded by ‘Lord,’ as ‘Lord Tennyson’; if the Christian name is mentioned for distinction, it comes first, as ‘Alfred, Lord Tennyson.’ The territorial titles given by courtesy to judges in Scotland are treated like those of barons, as ‘Lord Monboddo.’ The younger sons of dukes and marquises have the courtesy title of ‘Lord’ followed by the Christian name and surname, as ‘Lord John Russell.’ These rules were, for the most part, already formulated in the 16th c., but were for a long time seldom accurately observed except by experts in heraldry.
In early use the prefixed title had most commonly the form my Lord (see 15) or the Lord. The latter survives in certain formal uses, and in the superscription of letters.
1455. Rolls of Parlt., V. 332/2. William Bonvyle Knyght, Lord Bonevile, his servauntes and adheraunts.
15[?]. Bk. of Precedence, in Q. Eliz. Acad., 27. All marquises Eldest sonnes are named no Earles, but lord of a place or barrony…. And all his other bretheren Lordes, with the addition of there Christoned name. An Earles Eldest sonn is called a lord of a place or Baron[y], and all his other sonnes no lords.
1545. Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 214. George Erle of Huntlie, Lord Gordoun and of Bangzenocht.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 294. Also on the French part the Lorde John Cleremount fought under his awne Banner.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 61–4. Valiant Lord Talbot Earle of Shrewsbury: Created … Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Vrchinfield, Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdon of Alton [etc.]. Ibid. (1593), Rich. II., II. ii. 53. The L. Northumberland.
1636. Trussell, Contn. Daniel’s Hist. Eng., 93. Sir Iohn Oldcastle in right of his Wife called in courtesie Lord Cobham.
1781. (title) The Trial of the Right Honourable George Gordon, commonly called, Lord George Gordon.
a. 1865. Greville, Mem., II. (1885), II. 171. I dined with Lord and Lady Frederick FitzClarence and Lord Westmoreland. Ibid., III. 458. Whether Lord Derby or Lord anybody else is in office.
1879. McCarthy, Hist. Own Times (1887), II. 405. Mr. Bruce was raised to the Peerage as Lord Aberdare.
b. The Lord Harry: see HARRY 6.
14. Jocular uses. a. As a mock title of dignity given to the person appointed to preside on certain festive occasions. So Lord of Christmas (see CHRISTMAS 4), Lord of Misrule (see MISRULE), Summer Lord, etc. (obs. exc. Hist.), Harvest Lord (see HARVEST sb. 7).
1556. Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden), 73. Item the iiijth day of January [1551–2] the lorde of Crystmas of the kynges howse came thorrow London … to the lorde mayer’s to denner.
1571. Grindal, Injunc. at York, C iij. The Minister & churchwardens shall not suffer any Lordes of misrule or Sommer Lordes … to come vnreuerently into any Church [etc.].
1628. in Crt. & Times Chas. I. (1848), I. 311. On Saturday last, the Templars chose one Mr. Palmes … their lord of misrule.
1806. Bloomfield, Wild Flowers, Poems (1845), 217. Many a Lord, Sam, I know that, Has begg’d as well as thee.
b. slang. A hunchback. (Cf. LORD-FISH.)
The origin of this use is obscure, but there is no reason for doubting the identity of the word. The Dict. Canting Crew has a parallel sense of Lady.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Lord, a very crooked, deformed … Person.
1725. in New Cant. Dict.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pic., xxviii. His pupil … was … on account of his hump, distinguished by the title of My Lord.
1817. Neuman, Eng.-Sp. Dict. (ed. 3), Lord … 8 (Joc.) Hombre jorobado.
1826. Lamb, Elia, II. Pop. Fallacies. That a deformed person is a lord.
1887. Besant, The World went, I. iii. 86. He was, in appearance, short and bent, with rounded shoulders, and with a hump (which made the boys call him My Lord).
15. My Lord.
a. Prefixed to a name or title. (a) Formerly the ordinary prefix used in speaking to or of a nobleman, where we now commonly use simply ‘Lord’ (see 13); in early use the preposition of before territorial designations was commonly retained. (Now only arch.) (b) My Lord of (London, Canterbury, etc.): a respectful mode of referring to a bishop (obs. or arch.). (c) Prefixed to a title of rank or office; now only vocatively, as in my Lord Mayor, my Lord Duke, my Lord Marquis.
c. 1440. York Myst., xvii. 73. Mi lorde ser Herowde!
a. 1470. Gregory, in Hist. Coll. Lond. Cit. (Camden), 230. The mater was put to my Lorde of London.
1481–90. Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.), 321. The same day, my Lord rekened with his lokyer.
1530. Palsgr., 433/2. I am somoned by a sergent at armes to apere byfore my lorde chaunceller.
1533. T. Cromwell, Lett., 25 July, in C.’s Life & Lett. (1902), I. 385. My Lorde Abbot I recommende me vnto you [etc.].
c. 1560. Satir. Poems Reform., xxviii. 57. Than my Lord Arrane from Albany ye Duke Obtenit the gift of Murray.
1561. Stanford, Churchw. Acc., in Antiquary, XVII. 168/1. At my lorde of Sarums commandment.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. (1882), 104. May a bishop be called by the name of ‘my Lord bishop, my Lords grace.’
1584. Leycesters Commonw. (1641), 68. By your opinion my Lord of Leycester is the most learned of all his kindred.
1613. Spelman, De non Temer. Eccl. (1646), 23. My Lord Coke also in the second part of his Reports, saith, that [etc.].
1635. Pagitt, Christianogr. (1640), I. 199. A petition to my Lords Grace of Canterbury.
1660. Pepys, Diary, 3 March. My Lord General Fleetwood told my Lord that he feared the King of Sweden is dead.
1679. Evelyn, Mem., 5 Nov. I was invited to dine at my Lord Tividale’s.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 17, ¶ 4. The Courage and Capacity of my Lord Galway.
1742. Fielding, J. Andrews, Pref. ¶ 8. I apprehend, my Lord Shaftesbury’s Opinion of mere Burlesque agrees with mine.
b. Used separately. (a) As the usual polite or respectful form of address to a nobleman under the rank of duke, and to a bishop; also (now only by persons greatly inferior in position) in speaking of them. (b) As the formal mode of address to a Lord Mayor, a Lord Provost, and to the Lord Advocate (Scotland). (c) In courts of law used in addressing a judge of the Supreme Court (or, formerly, a judge of any of the ‘superior courts’ now merged in this); in Scotland and Ireland in addressing a judge of any of the superior courts.
The hurried or affected pronunciation prevalent in the courts of law has often been derisively represented by the spelling my Lud or m’lud (see LUD).
1543. Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 190. My lord, we recommend our hartlie and humil seruice vnto your lordschip.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 294. [Beatrice to Don Pedro] So I would not he should do me, my Lord.
1601. Munday, Downf. Earl Huntingdon, II. ii. (1828), 34. Robin. What, Much and John! well met in this ill time. Little John. In this good time my lord.
1789. Wolcot (P. Pindar), Subj. for Painters, 28. ‘Bravissimo! my Lor,’ replied Squalind.
1830. N. S. Wheaton, Jrnl., 198. I could not help noticing the affected way in which they [H. of Lords clerks] pronounce the words My Lord … as if they were written My Lud.
1870. Dickens, E. Drood, iv. He has been spoken to in the street as My Lord, under the impression that he was the Bishop.
1893. Sir A. Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, 191. The minister … turned to the ‘loft,’ in which ‘my Lord’ was seated.
c. As nonce-vb., To ‘my lord’ (a person).
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., III. vi. Who ever saw any Lord my-lorded in tattered blanket, fastened with wooden skewer?
1868. Yates, Rock Ahead, I. viii. His tenant … would … ‘My lord’ him until the wine had done its work.
d. pl. My lords: (a) the usual form of address to a number of noblemen or bishops, and in courts of law to two or more of the superior judges sitting together; (b) in the official correspondence of a department of state, used as a collective designation for the ministers composing it.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxxix. 1. My Lordis of Chacker, pleis ȝow to heir My coumpt.
1555. Ridley, in Coverd., Lett. Martyrs (1564), 101. My Lordes, if in times past ye haue [etc.].
1593. Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 16. My Lords, We were fore-warned of your comming.
1727. Pope, etc., Art of Sinking, 122. Separate divisions for the two houses of parliament, my lords the judges, &c.
1871. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., Aug., 495. Speedily got himself into hot water with ‘my lords’ at Whitehall.
III. 16. attrib. or appositive, and in Comb., as lord-lover, -suitor; lord-hating, -loving, -ridden adjs.; lord-breed nonce-wd., a breed or race of lords; lord-farmer, one who holds an episcopal manor by a rent paid to the bishop; † lords’ room, app. a room or compartment on the stage of a theater, reserved for privileged spectators.
1862. Darwin, in Life & Lett. (1887), II. 385. Ablest men are continually raised to the peerage, and get crossed with the older *Lord-breeds.
1718. R. Frampton, in T. Evans, Life (1876), 161. The *lord farmer there had been offering a small fine to renew with the two preceding Bishops who both refused.
1777. Town & Country Mag., June, 335. Death. John Shadwell, Esq.; lord-farmer of Horfield manor, in Somersetshire.
1828. Blackw. Mag., XXIII. 384. The *lord-hating gang to which he … appertains.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. XXII. v. O young *lord-lover, what sighs are those, For one that will never be thine?
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, Char., Wks. (Bohn), II. 63. The conservative, money-loving, *lord-loving English are yet liberty-loving.
1849. R. Cobden, in Morley Life (1902), xviii. 68/2. A servile aristocracy-loving, *lord-ridden people.
1599. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Hum., II. i. Hee powres them out as familiarly, as if hee had tane Tabacco with them ouer the stage, in the *Lords roome.
1609. Dekker, Guls Horne-bk., vi. 28. Let our Gallant … presently aduance himselfe vp to the Throne of the Stage, I meane not into the Lords roome (which is now but the Stages Suburbes).
1868. Browning, Ring & Bk., IV. 471. He likes to have *lord-suitors lounge.
