Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LORD, n. [Sax. hlaford. This has been supposed to be compounded of hlaf, loaf, and ford, afford, to give; and hence a lord is interpreted, a bread-giver. But lady in Saxon, is in like manner written hlaefdæg; and dæg can hardly signify a giver. The word occurs in none of the Teutonic dialects, except the Saxon; and it is not easy to ascertain the original signification of the word. I question the correctness of the common interpretation.]

1. A master; a person possessing supreme power and authority; a ruler; a governor. Man over man / He made not lord. – Milton. But now I was the lord / Of this fair mansion. – Shak.
2. A tyrant; an oppressive ruler. – Dryden.
3. A husband. Aloft in bitterness of soul deplored / My absent daughter, and my dearer lord. – Pope. My lord also being old. – Gen. xviii.
4. A baron; the proprietor of a manor; as, the lord of the manor.
5. A nobleman; a title of honor in Great Britain given to those who are noble by birth or creation; a peer of the realm, including dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and barons. Archbishops and bishops also, as members of the house of lords, are lords of parliament. Thus we say, lords temporal and spiritual. By courtesy also the title is given to the sons of dukes and marquises, and to the eldest sons of earls. – Encyc.
6. An honorary title bestowed on certain official characters; as, lord advocate, lord chamberlain, lord chancellor, lord chief justice, &c.
7. In Scripture, the Supreme Being; Jehovah. When Lord, in the Old Testament is printed in capitals, it is the translation of Jehovah, and so might, with more propriety be rendered. The word is applied to Christ, Ps. cx. Col. iii. and to the Holy Spirit, 2 Thess. iii. As a title of respect, it is applied to kings, Gen. xl. 2 Sam. xix. to princes and nobles, Gen. xlii. Dan. iv. to a husband, Gen. xviii. to a prophet, 1 Kings xviii. 2. Kings ii. and to a respectable person, Gen. xxiv. Christ is called the Lord of glory, 1 Cor. ii. and Lord of lords, Rev. xix.