lord English · revision 3418

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=ang hlāfweard}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /lɔːd/, US /lɔːrd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|loverd]], later lord,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) [[inh|ang|hlāford|t=master of a household, ruler, superior]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a contraction of earlier [[m|ang|hlāfweard]], literally “loaf-keeper”, from [[m|ang|hlāf|t=bread, loaf]], the source of [[loaf]], and [[m|ang|weard|t=keeper, guardian]], the source of [[ward]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad explains that the original sense expressed the relation of the head of a household to the dependants who ate his bread.^(Hoad 1986) The female counterpart is [[lady]], Old English hlǣfdīġe, “bread-kneader”,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and Old English hlāfǣta “household servant” is literally “loaf-eater”.^(Etymonline) The modern one-syllable form emerged in the 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Master of a household, ruler: Old English ''hlāford'', about 725, in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) and in Middle English laverd before 1121, in the ''Peterborough Chronicle''.^(Barnhart 1988) A husband is a ''lord'' from 831.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English also used ''hlāford'' for God, translating Latin [[m|la|dominus]] and Greek ''kúrios'', though dryhten was more frequent.^(Etymonline) A feudal superior is from before 1000.^(OED 1989) An owner of land or houses is from about 1300, the sense in [[landlord]].^(Etymonline) As a respectful form of address to a nobleman or bishop it is from the 1540s,^(Etymonline) and ''the Lords'', the peers in Parliament, from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) As an interjection it is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The ''Lord's Prayer'' is from the 1540s, and ''year of our Lord'' from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The verb “to rule as a lord” is from about 1300, and ''lord it over'' from the 1570s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A magnate in a trade, as in ''drug lord'', is from 1823.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''hlāford'' (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 831 – a husband.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – a landowner; verb, to rule.^(Etymonline)

+ * 14th century – the form ''lord''.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-15th century – ''the Lords''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – a form of address, and ''Lord's Prayer''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1570s – ''lord it''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – a magnate.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A man of high rank in a feudal society; a ruler or master.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(Lord)'' The title of a [[peer]] or of certain officials, and ''the Lords'', the [[House of Lords]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Lord)'' God, or Christ.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A man of power in a particular field: ''a drug lord''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''lord it over'': to behave in a domineering way towards.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(often Lord)'' Used to express surprise or dismay.^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lordlike]]

+ * [[lordling]]

+ * [[lordless]]

+ * [[lordly]]

+ * [[lord-in-waiting]]

+ * [[lordship]]

+ * [[warlord]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lady]]

+ * [[loaf]]

+ * [[ward]]

+ * [[laird]]

+ * [[landlord]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The CEPD notes that British lawyers addressing a judge sometimes pronounce ''my lord'' /mɪˈlʌd/.^(Roach et al. 2011) Scots [[laird]] is a northern form of the same word.^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}