How do you pronounce lord?

The recorded pronunciation is /loːd/.

Where does lord come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

lord

/loːd/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.10 in modern English

Syllables: lord
IPA: /loːd/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

Obsolete

noun

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

Archaic; Obsolete

noun

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

Archaic; Obsolete

noun

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)

noun

Obsolete

noun

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

Example Sentences

"Bleſſed is that ſeruant, whome his Lord when he commeth, ſhal finde ſo doing."
"Por. ...But now, I was the Lord of this faire manſion, maiſter of my ſeruants, Queene oer my ſelfe[…]"
"Lords of manors are distinguished from other land-owners with regard to the game."
"[…]thou worthie Lord, Of that vnworthie wife that greeteth thee"
"Pet. Katherine, I charge thee, tell theſe head-ſtrong women, What dutie they doe owe their Lords and huſbands!"
"Therefore Sarah laughed within her ſelfe, ſaying, After I am waxed old, ſhall I haue pleaſure, my lord being old alſo?"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-der.? Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz Proto-West Germanic *hlaib Old English hlāf Proto-Indo-European *wert-der. Proto-Germanic *wardaz Proto-West Germanic *ward Old English weard Old English hlāfweard Old English hlāford Middle English lord English lord 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.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: lord, hlāford, Dominus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /loːd/
British English: /lɔːd/

Usage

Inflected Forms

lords (plural) lords (present, singular) lording (participle, present) lorded (participle, past) lorded (past)

Derived Forms

belord dragonlord druglord ganglord gutlord laird landlord lorddom lordful lordhood lordish lordkin

Phrases

banner lord chief lord crime lord drug lord drunk as a lord feudal lord First Lord harvest lord

Frequently Paired Words

lady laird Grace Lord Bishop

Synonyms

Allah Jehovah drighten possessor proprietor sovereign elevate ennoble invest

Homonyms

lored (horse–hoarse merger) laud (non-rhotic) lured (some accents) laud

Rhymes With

board record award toward scored afford ford sword ward reward ignored bored

lord

Meaning

Example Sentences

Etymology

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How to pronounce lord