lord
/lɔːd/
"lord" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lord” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #832 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #832
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lord |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /lɔːd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #832 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lord” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lord is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /lɔːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #832 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lord, with forms such as "llord", "lodr", and "lordd". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "LR", "lot", "low", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lord and lorde (attested from the 15th century), from earlier (14th century) lourde and other variants which dropped the intervocalic consonant of earlier lowerd, louerd, loverd, laford, and lhoaverd; from Old English hlāford < hlāfweard… The correct English form is lord, spelled L-O-R-D.
Definition
- 1The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor
- 2The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor
- 3The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor
- 4One 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)
- 5One 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)
- 6One 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)
- 7One 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)
- 8One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)
- 9One possessing similar mastery in figurative senses (esp. as lord of ~)
- 10The heavenly body considered to possess a dominant influence over an event, time, etc.
- 11A hunchback.
- 12Sixpence.
Etymology
From Middle English lord and lorde (attested from the 15th century), from earlier (14th century) lourde and other variants which dropped the intervocalic consonant of earlier lowerd, louerd, loverd, laford, and lhoaverd; from Old English hlāford < hlāfweard, a compound of hlāf (“bread”) + weard (“guardian”); see loaf and ward. The term was already being applied broadly prior to the literary development of Old English and was influenced by its common use to translate Latin dominus. Compare Scots laird (“lord”), preserving a separate vowel development (from northern/Scottish Middle English lard, laverd), the Old English compound hlāf-ǣta (“servant”, literally “bread-eater”), and modern English lady, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“bread-kneader”). The Middle English word laford was borrowed by Icelandic, where it survives as lávarður. Doublet of hlaford and laird.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: llord,lodr,lordd,lorrd,lrod,olrd
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lord - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “lord”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-O-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /lɔːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “LR” - see the side-by-side comparison. lord vs LR
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.