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lordling

UK/ˈlɔːdlɪŋ/US/ˈlɔɹdlɪŋ/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — lord sits at #321Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

A lordling is a young or minor nobleman. A pack of lordlings, some lordling or other, the lordling's steward.

The -ling ending makes it dismissive, since it means small as well as young, and nobody was ever called one to their face. It belongs to historical writing and to fantasy.

Definitions of lordling

  1. 1nounlordlingA young or minor nobleman.C2

    “The arrogant young lordling expected the servants to obey his every order.”

lordling is a nobleman.

Where it comes from

Lord plus the diminutive ending -ling, in Middle English.

  1. Middle English

    lordlyng

  2. English, today

    lordling

From Middle English lordlyng; equivalent to lord + ling.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

lordling in the wild

  • The surname is a diminutive form, likely originating as a nickname meaning "little master" or "young gentleman" (sometimes used affectionately, sometimes ironically as "lordling").

    Panek

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • lord
  • overlord