▪ I. lordship, n.
(ˈlɔːdʃɪp)
For forms see lord n. and -ship. Also 4 lordchip, 5 lorchuppe.
1. a. The dignity and functions of a lord; dominion, rule, sovereignty; ownership of or dominion † on, over (something specified); rarely pl.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxviii. 200 Ðonne we agyltað wið ða hlafordas, ðonne agylte we wið ðone God þe hlafordscipe ᵹescop. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 18 Tille Adelwolf gaf he..Lordschip ouer alle þe londes bituex Douer & Tuede. 1388 Wyclif Rom. vi. 9 Deeth schal no more haue lordschip on hym. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 646 Sir Mordrede..Salle be my leuetenante, with lordchipez ynewe. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) i. 4 Þis apple betakens þe lordschepe þat he had ouer all þe werld. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 136 The kynges of Englond owen wel to haue the lordshyp of Irland. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 74 The lordeshyp of all sinne may be so caste out of vs..that [etc.]. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 59 Peter..exhorteth them so to fede the flocke, not as vsing a Lordship ouer the Clergie. 1585 C. Fetherstone tr. Calvin on Acts xiv. 19 They challenge to themselves no Lordship, they hunt after no gaine. 1611 Bible Mark x. 42 They which are accompted to rule ouer the Gentiles, exercise Lordship ouer them. 1625 Massinger New Way iii. ii, Spite of his Lordship and his Collonelship,..I will make him render..a strict accompt. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1738 I. 218 Our first parent had Lordship over Sea, and Land, and Air. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Mark viii. 38 Will Preferment, Lordship, and Pomp,..recompense him? 1807 Wordsw. White Doe ii. 55 But not for lordship or for land, My Father, do I clasp your knees. 1851 Dixon W. Penn xxi. (1872) 184 They claimed the lordship of the soil. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. i. 313 Parliament had asserted an absolute lordship over the colonies in all cases whatsoever. 1900 Edin. Rev. July 57 The Templars acquired lordship over not less than 9,000 manors. |
¶ Used to render L. dominatio, as the title of an order of angels.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 342 Dominationes sind hlaford⁓scypas ᵹecwedene. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 219 He ȝescop tyen engle werod..Dominationes, hlafordscipe. |
† b. collect. = lords. Obs.
| 1340–70 Alisaunder 335 Þe Lordship of Laceedemonie loþed hem þan. |
2. a. The land belonging to a lord, the territory under his jurisdiction; a domain, estate, manor, seignory.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 392 If eny siche lordeschips be..Alienyd or take fro hem. 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 452/1 Castels, Maners, Lordeshipes, and other Possessions. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 135 Who-so covetyth a roialme or a lorchuppe to Purchase. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 183 The boundes and lorshyppes of the sayd Mercyens..were large and myghty. 1574 tr. Littleton's Tenures 17 b, In divers lordeshippes and mannoures there is suche custome. 1589 Extracts Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) I. 144 Walter, commendatour of Blantyre, lord fewar of the lordschipe and regalitie of Glasgw. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. (1608) 211, I know a Lordship of my Landlords..it is much pestered with Broome. a 1710 G. Bull Serm. xviii. Wks. 1827 I. 448 A good many years ago such a lordship was in such a family. 1765 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. I. iv. 103 This house was built with..four thousand acres for a manor or lordship. 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 423 That abbacy was erected into a temporal lordship in the family of Keith. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 261 The new envoy..bore a title taken from the lordship of Zulestein. 1873 Dixon Two Queens I. i. i. 6 Owner of one of the widest lordships in the Kingdom. 1896 T. F. Tout Edw. I, iii. 51 The Christian lordships in the Levant were reduced by this time to the slenderest proportions. |
† b. A government, province, district. Obs.
| c 1400 Three Kings of Cologne 55 Þer is an oþir londe þat is clepid Galilee, þe which is a greet lordschippe. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 1075 A squier than rewllyt that lordschip haill. 1535 Coverdale Josh. xi. 2 The kynges that dwelt..in the lordshippes of Dor by the see syde. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 5 In the province of Anigua Iaqua and other lordships which were not as yet pacified. |
† 3. Lordliness, arbitrariness. Obs.
| 1634 Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 65 Without any other reason but mere lordship, the whole incorporation and I were dismissed to wait his pleasure. |
† 4. The protection given by a lord; patronage.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1791 May no lordschepe, sone, þe auayle, ffor al þi long seruice & þi trauaile? 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xxxv. 269 Said the kynge..ye shall haue my loue and my lordship in the vttermest wyse that may lye in my power. |
5. a. The personality of a lord, esp. with possessive pronouns. your lordship(s: a form of address to noblemen (except archbishops and dukes), and to judges. † Formerly abbreviated Lop., Lop.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 136 Thys worde I have sayd afore your lordeshyppes for to [etc.]. 1540 Morysine Vives' Introd. Wysd. Pref. A iv, My poore harte myghte better have served his lordeshyppe. 1550–3 Decaye of Eng. (1871) 8 Beseechynge your Hyghnes,..and honourable lordshyppes. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. viii. 34 Cousin of Exeter, what thinkes your Lordship? 1613 ― Hen. VIII, ii. ii. 62 Health to your Lordships. 1681 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 98 Last Friday out goes about 20 of them to desire his Ldship to [etc.]. 1705 Addison Italy Ded., I here present your Lordship with the Remarks that I make in a Part of these my Travels. 1755 Johnson Let. to Ld. Chesterfield 7 Feb., Two papers, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the publick, were written by your Lordship. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian iii. (1826) 20 If it is Signora Rosalba whom your lordship means. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 235 We must call that case to the consideration of your Lordships from your Journals. 1858 J. B. Norton Topics 160 His Lordship in Council observes that [etc.]. 1884 Illustr. Lond. News 29 Nov. 527/3 Their Lordships then adjourned until next Monday. |
b. humorously. (Not uncommon colloq. as a mock complimentary designation for ordinary persons.)
| 1892 Lowndes Camping Sketches 43 After half an hour's walking we dropped down on his lordship [the donkey] browsing unconcernedly. |
6. Sc. A percentage on sales of books; a royalty (on a mine or a book).
| 1859 J. Blackwood Let. 18 Sept. in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) III. 160 Your warning voice about G.E.'s new novel keeps me uncertain. I incline to offer {pstlg}3000, or {pstlg}2000 with a lordship not to begin until so many are sold. 1861 Stephens & Burn Bk. Farm-Buildings 171 The contractor will have Kinpurney quarry, free of lordships, for all the stones necessary. 1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Scottish Mining Terms 43 Lordship, rate per ton or other measure paid to the proprietor of minerals, royalty. 1887 Duke of Argyll in 19th Cent. XXII. 612 The plan proposed of a fixed lordship or percentage of sales seems the only proposal which meets all the difficulties of the case. Mod. Sc. The publisher offered the author a lordship of 10 per cent. on the amount of sales. |
7. Comb.: † lordship-marcher, ? a district under the government of a lord marcher.
| 1613 Hayward Norm. Kings 181 This being a Lordship marcher, hath enioyed royall liberties, since the time wherein it was first subdued. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 435 Offenders..being not able..to..fly from one lordship Marcher to another. |
▪ II. lordship, v.
(ˈlɔːdʃɪp)
[f. lordship n.]
† 1. intr. To exercise lordship; to be a lord or ruler. Const. of, to, up. Obs.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter ix. 27 [x. 5] Þe ryȝtful shal lord-shipen of alle hys enemys. Ibid. xlviii. 15 [xlix. 14] Þe riȝtful shul lord-shippe vp hem in ioie. 1382 Wyclif Judg. xiv. 4 Forsothe that tyme Philistien lordshipide to Yrael. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xxxiii. (1869) 21 Whan he hadde seruauntes he was lord and lordshipinge [Fr. et seigneurissant]. c 1430 Lydg. Reas. & Sens. (E.E.T.S.) 2445 He lordshyppeth, and hath cure Of euery maner creature. |
2. trans. To exercise lordship over; to govern.
| a 1325 Prose Psalter lxxxviii. 10 [lxxxix. 9] Þou lordshippest þe pouste of þe seo. Ibid. cv. 38 [cvi. 41] Hij þat hated hem lord-shipped hem. |
3. To address as ‘Your lordship’.
| 1740 tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) II. 80 She Lordship'd every one who did her the Honour to address themselves to her. 1880 W. J. Fitzpatrick Life Dr. Doyle I. 91 Some of the priests..lordshipped him. |
Hence † ˈlordshipping, the action of the vb., dominion, ownership. Also † ˈlordshipper, one who exercises lordship; a ruler.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 385 Þis is þe mooste cyuylite or seculer lordeschipinge þat eny kynge or lorde haþ on his tenauntes. ― Micah v. 2 Of thee [Bethlem] shal gon out to me, whiche is lordshiper in Yrael. ― 2 Pet. ii. 10 Hem that walken aftir flesch,..and despijsen lordscheping. |