Join free

laird

English · Français · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

laird¹

  • /lɛːd/ UK
  • /lɛəɹd/ US
  • /lerd/ Scotland
  • /leːd/ Australia
  • /leəd/ New Zealand
  • /liəd/
  • /lɜː(ɹ)d/

Sounds like laired, leered (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɛə(ɹ)d

Where it comes from

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.

noun lairds

  1. historical A feudal lord in Scottish contexts.
  2. Scotland 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...
  3. Scotland 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

verb lairds · lairding · lairded

  1. Scotland, transitive 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.

Laird²

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A township and village in Algoma District, northern Ontario.
  3. A rural municipality, the Rural Municipality of Laird No. 404, in central Saskatchewan.
  4. A village within the rural municipality in Saskatchewan, named after David Laird.
  5. A census-designated place in Yuma County, Colorado.
  6. A township in Houghton County, Michigan.
  7. A township in Phelps County, Nebraska.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: liard, johnson, rams, landowner, landholder, proprietor, lord, squire, landlord, castellan, chieftain, seigneur, baron, overlord, freeholder, magnate

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"laird." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/laird. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

laird. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/laird

Chicago

"laird." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/laird.

BibTeX
@misc{laird_2026,
  title = {laird},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/laird},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}