Laird
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A feudal lord in Scottish contexts. historical
- 2 a landowner wordnet
- 3 An aristocrat, particularly in Scottish contexts and in reference to the chiefs of the Scottish clans. Scotland
"Now Wiſe, and Rich, and Worthie, and Wonderful, and Faithful and True, and Rare, & Charitable, and Great Laird of Carnwath, Be not Prowd, altho I Commend you at ſuch a Rate behind your back and yet never ſaw You..."
- 4 A landowner, particularly in Scottish contexts. Scotland
"In Scotland, the traditional term for the owner of an upland estate is the ‘laird’. [...] Well into the post-war period, the lairds of large estates were generally treated deferentially by local people but times have changed, [...] It would be a mistake to equate the title ‘laird’ to a British ‘lord’, as it does not confer any political standing, but the fact that some of Scotland’s lairds sit in the House of Lords can confuse the outsider."
- 1 Chiefly as laird it over: to behave like a laird, particularly to act haughtily or to domineer; to lord (it over). Scotland, transitive
"But cauld was his hearth ere his youdith was o'er, / An' he delved on the lands he had lairded before; / Yet though he beggared his ha' an' deserted his lea, / Contented he roamed on the banks o' the Dee."
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A place in Canada:; A township and village in Algoma District, northern Ontario.
- 3 A place in Canada:; A rural municipality, the Rural Municipality of Laird No. 404, in central Saskatchewan.
- 4 A place in Canada:; A village within the rural municipality in Saskatchewan, named after David Laird.
- 5 A place in the United States:; A census-designated place in Yuma County, Colorado.
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- 6 A place in the United States:; A township in Houghton County, Michigan.
- 7 A place in the United States:; A township in Phelps County, Nebraska.
Example
More examples"Now Wiſe, and Rich, and Worthie, and Wonderful, and Faithful and True, and Rare, & Charitable, and Great Laird of Carnwath, Be not Prowd, altho I Commend you at ſuch a Rate behind your back and yet never ſaw You..."
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Scots laird, from northern or Scottish Middle English lard, laverd, a variant of lord. The verb is derived from the noun. Doublet of hlaford and lord.
Related phrases
More for "laird"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.