lordship

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lordshipe,^[2][3] inherited from Old English hlāfordscipe (“authority, rule, dominion”),^[4][5][6][7] formed from Old English hlāford + -scipe, that is lord and -ship.^{[5][8][9][10]} The Old English word translated Latin dominātiō.^[4][7] hlāford is itself a contraction of earlier hlāfweard, literally "one who guards the loaves", from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) and weard (“keeper, guardian”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The dignity, power or position of a lord; dominion: in King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care, in early Old English.^[8] Merriam-Webster dates the word to before the 12th century,^[5] and Etymonline dates the Middle English word to about 1300.^[4] Bosworth–Toller glosses the Old English noun as "lordship, rule".^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word also named one of the orders of angels, after Latin dominatio, a use that ended about 1225.^[8] From the 14th century it was also used of the land belonging to a lord or under his jurisdiction,^[8][10] and Johnson (1755) gave "dominion; power" first and "seigniory; domain" second.^[11] As a title of respect, with your or his, it is recorded from 1394,^[8] though Etymonline dates this use to the late 15th century.^[4] Chaucer used lordshipe 45 times, for authority and rule and also for patronage or protection;^[2][12] the sense "patronage" is recorded until 1633.^[8] From 1800 his lordship could be a mock title for someone who behaves in a lordly way.^[8] In Rutland and Worcestershire dialect a lordship was a manor or parish.^[13]

Timeline

• Old English – the dignity, functions or power of a lord.^[8]
• Old English – an order of angels (obsolete by 1225).^[8]
• c. 1300 – Middle English lordshipe.^[4]
• before 1375 – the land or territory under a lord.^[8]
• 1394 – title of respect, with your or his.^[8]
• c. 1405 – patronage, protection, in Chaucer's Knight's Tale (obsolete by 1633).^[8]
• 1740 – verb, to address someone as "Your Lordship".^[8]
• 1800 – a mock title for a person who acts in a lordly manner.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The rank, position or authority of a lord; dominion or rule: the lordship of the king over his vassals.^[14][5][8]
2. Your Lordship, His Lordship: a title used in speaking to or of a male member of the peerage below the rank of duke, a judge or a bishop.^[14][8][15]
3. (now historical) The land or territory under a lord's jurisdiction; a domain.^[5][8][11]
4. (obsolete, 1405–1633) The protection given by a lord; patronage.^[8][2]

Related words

• lord
• lordly
• lady

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West