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lord

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈɫɔɹd// UK //lˈɔːd// lord Archaic General-service Slang

n. a man who has a lot of power or a high social rank, like a king or a noble. In some religions, people use this name to talk about God.

n. a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master or ruler. When capitalized, it functions as a title for a nobleman or as a designation for a deity in monotheistic religions.


SIMPLE

The Lord of the manor owned all the surrounding land.

CONTEXTUAL

In the British political system, a Lord sits in the upper house of Parliament to review new laws.

COMPLEX

The historical transition from feudalism saw the absolute power of the local Lord gradually replaced by centralized state authority and the rule of common law.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

See lord. In reference to the God of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Bible, originally a translation (attested from the late Old English form hlāford) of the Vulgate Latin Dominus (“master of a house; lord”), translating the New Testament and the Septuagint's Ancient Greek ὁ κύριος or Κύριος (ó kýrios, "the supreme one; Lord, Kyrios"), both in reference to Hebrew אֲדֹנָי (ʾdny, "my lord; my Lord, Adonai") from אדון (ʾdwn, "lord, patron; Lord") + י- (-y, "my"), cognate with Phoenician 𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾdn, "lord; Lord, Adon"). Adonai appears in the Tanakh both directly and as a euphemism read aloud during occurrences of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH, "I Am that I Am; Jehovah"). See the usage notes below. Displaced the earlier term Drighten.

Usage

Capitalized when used as a specific title or to refer to a deity; lowercase when used as a general term for a ruler.

Idioms4 entries

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