Lairdship

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The rank, status, or territorial domain held by a laird, a Scottish landowner or feudal superior
2. The title and authority possessed by a laird, or the estate and lands under a laird's control
3. The position and lands of a laird, particularly in Scotland where such nobility held considerable power over their territories

Etymology: Lairdship is a Scottish word that has travelled a long way through its own spelling. It was borrowed from Middle Scots "lairdschip", which came from Early Scots "lardschip", and that reaches back to Old English "hlāfordsċipe", the same ancestor that gave English "lordship". The two words are therefore doublets: one path through Scotland, another through the wider English language, both rooted in "hlāford", literally "loaf-keeper" or "bread-guardian", a term for the person who gave out food to his household. On the surface, the word looks like "laird" with the suffix "-ship" added, and that analysis is accurate. "Laird" is the Scots form of "lord", so "lairdship" names the rank, office or estate of a laird, the landowner of a Scottish estate, and by extension the authority that came with holding it.

Synonyms: lairddom, lordship