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lord

/loɹd/noun, verb

lord is a noun meaning “One possessing similar mastery over others; (historical) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled L-O-R-D and has one syllable, and it appears 126 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of lord is lords.

What does lord mean?

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteThe master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor

  2. 2

    archaicobsoleteThe male head of a household, a father or husband.

  3. 3

    archaicobsoleteThe owner of a house, piece of land, or other possession

    A mightie Lord of Swine!

  4. 4

    One possessing similar mastery over others; (historical) any feudal superior generally; any nobleman or aristocrat; any chief, prince, or sovereign ruler; in Scotland, a male member of the lowest rank of nobility (the equivalent rank in England is baron)

  5. 5

    A feudal tenant holding his manor directly of the king

  6. 6

    A peer of the realm, particularly a temporal one

    Men myghten lordis knowe

  7. 7

    obsoleteA baron or lesser nobleman, as opposed to greater ones

  8. 8

    One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)

    O wityng bath god and ill Ȝee suld be lauerds at ȝour will.

verb

  1. 1

    To domineer or act like a lord.

  2. 2

    To invest with the dignity, power, and privileges of a lord; to grant the title of lord.

interjection

as Lord
  1. 1

    An interjection variously expressing astonishment, surprise, resignation.

noun

as Lord
  1. 1

    A formal title of the lesser British nobility, used for a lord of the manor or Lord Proprietor.

  2. 2

    A generic title used in reference to any peer of the British nobility or any peer below the dignity of duke and (as a courtesy title) for the younger sons of dukes and marquesses (see usage note).

  3. 3

    Similar formal and generic titles in other countries.

  4. 4

    An additional title added to denote the dignity of certain high officials, such as the "Lord Mayors" of major cities in the British Commonwealth

  5. 5

    The elected president of a festival.

  6. 6

    A high priest.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce lord?

  • UK /lɔːd/
  • British /loːd/
  • US /loɹd/

Lord has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-lord.wav, En-au-lord.ogg, En-us-lord.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of lord

  • lords plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • lording participle, present
  • lorded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is lord?

Lord appears 126 times per million words in written English, the 831st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with lord

Sounds like: laud (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: lud.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Lord in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchchâtelain (master of a household), seigneur (ruler, one having mastery over others), monsieur, lord (aristocrat)
Portuguesecastelão (master of a household), lorde (aristocrat), senhor (property owner)
Spanishcastellano (master of a household), señor (property owner), lord (titled nobleman)
GermanHerr (aristocrat), Gebieter (property owner), herrschen (to lord over), Lord (British aristocratic title)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.