Editing Lord (section)

==Historical usage==

===Feudalism===
{{main|Feudalism|English feudal barony|l2=English feudal baronies|Barons in Scotland|Lordship|Scottish feudal lordship}}
Under the [[feudalism|feudal system]], "lord" had a wide, loose and varied meaning. An [[overlord]] was a person from whom a landholding or a manor was held by a [[mesne lord]] or [[vassal]] under various forms of [[feudal land tenure]]. The modern term "[[landlord]]" is a vestigial survival of this function. A [[liege lord]] was a person to whom a vassal owed sworn allegiance. Neither of these terms were titular dignities, but rather factual appellations, which described the relationship between two or more persons within the highly stratified feudal social system. For example, a man might be [[lord of the manor]] to his own tenants but also a vassal of his own overlord, who in turn was a vassal of the King. Where a knight was a lord of the manor, he was referred to in contemporary documents as "John (Surname), knight, lord of (manor name)". A [[English feudal barony|feudal baron]] was a true titular dignity, with the right to attend Parliament, but a feudal baron, Lord of the Manor of many manors, was a vassal of the King.

===Manors===
{{See also|Lord of the manor}}
The substantive title of "lord of the manor" came into use in the English medieval system of [[feudalism]] after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066. The title "Lord of the Manor" was a titular [[Feudalism|feudal]] dignity which derived its force from the existence and operation of a [[manorial court]] or [[court baron]] at which he or his steward presided, thus he was the lord of the manorial court which determined the rules and laws which were to govern all the inhabitants and property covered by the jurisdiction of the court. To the tenants of a certain class of [[Manorialism|manor]] known in Saxon times as ''[[Infangenthef]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.manorialsociety.co.uk/glossary.html|title=Glossary|website=The Manorial Society of Great Britain}}</ref> their lord was a man who had the power of exercising [[capital punishment]] over them. The term invariably used in contemporary mediaeval documents is simply "lord of X", X being the name of the manor. The term "Lord of the Manor" is a recent usage of historians to distinguish such lords from [[English feudal barony|feudal barons]] and other powerful persons referred to in ancient documents variously as "Sire" (mediaeval French), "Dominus" (Latin), "Lord" etc.

===Laird===
{{See also|Laird}}
The Scottish title Laird is a shortened form of 'laverd' which is an old Scottish word deriving from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning 'Lord' and is also derived from the middle English word 'Lard' also meaning 'Lord'.  The word is generally used to refer to any owner of a landed estate and has no meaning in heraldic terms and its use is not controlled by the [[Lord Lyon King of Arms|Lord Lyon]].