Dictionary

chief lord en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (historical) Synonym of overlord: the lord of a fee immediately owed personal service or rent by a tenant, a tenant's liege lord.
   • Most feudal obligations were owed to the chief lord of the estate, but others were owed only and directly to the king of the realm.
   • Forinsec, or Extrinsec, or Regal Service, was a Service which did not belong to the chief Lord, but to the King. 1728, E. Chambers, Cyclopaedia, Service:
   • Chief lord, the feudal lord, or lord of an honour on whom others depend. 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 183
   • land-male, a reserved rent charged upon a piece of land by the chief lord of the fee, or a subsequent mesne owner. 1857, Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English:
2. (qualifier:inexact) Synonym of overlord: a lord over other lords, a lord paramount.
   • The chief lord over all other lords was the king.

Forms

Synonyms

overlord · overlord