1. [n]  the Judeo-Christian God
2. [n]  a titled peer of the realm
3. [n]  a person who has general authority over others
4. [v]  make a lord of someone

1. \Lord\, n. [Cf. Gr. ? bent so as to be convex in front.]
   A hump-backed person; -- so called sportively. [Eng.]
   --Richardson (Dict.).
   

2. \Lord\, n. [OE. lord, laverd, loverd, AS. hl[=a]ford, for
   hl[=a]fweard, i. e., bread keeper; hl[=a]f bread, loaf +
   weardian to look after, to take care of, to ward. See {Loaf},
   and {Ward} to guard, and cf. {Laird}, {Lady}.]
   1. One who has power and authority; a master; a ruler; a
      governor; a prince; a proprietor, as of a manor.
            But now I was the lord Of this fair mansion. --Shak.
            Man over men He made not lord.        --Milton.
   2. A titled nobleman., whether a peer of the realm or not; a
      bishop, as a member of the House of Lords; by courtesy;
      the son of a duke or marquis, or the eldest son of an
      earl; in a restricted sense, a boron, as opposed to
      noblemen of higher rank. [Eng.]
   3. A title bestowed on the persons above named; and also, for
      honor, on certain official persons; as, lord advocate,
      lord chamberlain, lord chancellor, lord chief justice,
      etc. [Eng.]
   4. A husband. ``My lord being old also.'' --Gen. xviii. 12.
            Thou worthy lord Of that unworthy wife that greeteth
            thee.                                 --Shak.
   5. (Feudal Law) One of whom a fee or estate is held; the male
      owner of feudal land; as, the lord of the soil; the lord
      of the manor.
   6. The Supreme Being; Jehovah.
   Note: When Lord, in the Old Testament, is printed in small
         capitals, it is usually equivalent to Jehovah, and
         might, with more propriety, be so rendered.
   7. The Savior; Jesus Christ.
   {House of Lords}, one of the constituent parts of the British
      Parliament, consisting of the lords spiritual and
      temporal.
   {Lord high chancellor}, {Lord high constable}, etc. See
      {Chancellor}, {Constable}, etc.
   {Lord justice clerk}, the second in rank of the two highest
      judges of the Supreme Court of Scotland.
   {Lord justice general}, or {Lord president}, the highest in
      rank of the judges of the Supreme Court of Scotland.
   {Lord keeper}, an ancient officer of the English crown, who
      had the custody of the king's great seal, with authority
      to affix it to public documents. The office is now merged
      in that of the chancellor.
   {Lord lieutenant}, a representative of British royalty: the
      {lord lieutenant of Ireland} being the representative of
      royalty there, and exercising supreme administrative
      authority; the {lord lieutenant of a county} being a
      deputy to manage its military concerns, and also to
      nominate to the chancellor the justices of the peace for
      that county.
   {Lord of misrule}, the master of the revels at Christmas in a
      nobleman's or other great house. --Eng. Cyc.
   {Lords spiritual}, the archbishops and bishops who have seats
      in the House of Lords.
   {Lords temporal}, the peers of England; also, sixteen
      representative peers of Scotland, and twenty-eight
      representatives of the Irish peerage.
   {Our lord}, Jesus Christ; the Savior.
   {The Lord's Day}, Sunday; the Christian Sabbath, on which the
      Lord Jesus rose from the dead.
   {The Lord's Prayer}, the prayer which Jesus taught his
      disciples. --Matt. vi. 9-13.
   {The Lord's Supper}.
      (a) The paschal supper partaken of by Jesus the night
          before his crucifixion.
      (b) The sacrament of the eucharist; the holy communion.
   {The Lord's Table}.
      (a) The altar or table from which the sacrament is
          dispensed.
      (b) The sacrament itself.
   

3. \Lord\, v. t.
   1. To invest with the dignity, power, and privileges of a
      lord. [R.] --Shak.
   2. To rule or preside over as a lord. [R.]
   

4. \Lord\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Lorded}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Lording}.]
   To play the lord; to domineer; to rule with arbitrary or
   despotic sway; -- sometimes with over; and sometimes with it
   in the manner of a transitive verb.
         The whiles she lordeth in licentious bliss. --Spenser.
         I see them lording it in London streets. --Shak.
         And lorded over them whom now they serve. --Milton.
   

There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered.

(1.) Heb. Jehovah, has been rendered in the English Bible LORD, printed in small capitals. This is the proper name of the God of the Hebrews. The form "Jehovah" is retained only in Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4, both in the Authorized and the Revised Version.

(2.) Heb. 'adon, means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes a master, as of slaves (Gen. 24:14, 27), or a ruler of his subjects (45:8), or a husband, as lord of his wife (18:12).

The old plural form of this Hebrew word is _'adonai_. From a superstitious reverence for the name "Jehovah," the Jews, in reading their Scriptures, whenever that name occurred, always pronounced it _'Adonai_.

(3.) Greek kurios, a supreme master, etc. In the LXX. this is invariably used for "Jehovah" and "'Adonai."

(4.) Heb. ba'al, a master, as having domination. This word is applied to human relations, as that of husband, to persons skilled in some art or profession, and to heathen deities. "The men of Shechem," literally "the baals of Shechem" (Judg. 9:2, 3). These were the Israelite inhabitants who had reduced the Canaanites to a condition of vassalage (Josh. 16:10; 17:13).

(5.) Heb. seren, applied exclusively to the "lords of the Philistines" (Judg. 3:3). The LXX. render it by satrapies. At this period the Philistines were not, as at a later period (1 Sam. 21:10), under a kingly government. (See Josh. 13:3; 1 Sam. 6:18.) There were five such lordships, viz., Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron.