laird

name

1. A surname.
2. A place in Canada:
3. A place in Canada:
4. A place in Canada:
5. A place in the United States:
6. A place in the United States:
7. A place in the United States:

noun

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.

1. A feudal lord in Scottish contexts.
2. An aristocrat, particularly in Scottish contexts and in reference to the chiefs of the Scottish clans.

   “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...”

   “Once I was call'd a great Fife laird, I dwelt not far from the Hall-yard: [...] O! but it's long and many a year, Since laſt my feet did travel here. I find great change in old lairds places, I know the ground, but not the faces, Where ſhall I turn me firſt about, For my acquaintance is worn out?”

3. A landowner, particularly in Scottish contexts.

   “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.”

verb

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.

1. Chiefly as laird it over: to behave like a laird, particularly to act haughtily or to domineer; to lord (it over).

   “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.”

   “You'd stand with a single malt, / in braces, admiring a Grinling, / while I did a fingertip search of your face, / [...] / discovering the recesses of baronial you, / lairding it in a rental estate / we were about to lose.”