Lairdships

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The rank, estate or lands held by a laird, the landowning lord of a Scottish manor
2. The status and property of a Scottish laird, a landed gentleman who holds an estate
3. Territories or titles belonging to a laird, the traditional landowner in Scotland

Etymology: Lairdship is a doublet of lordship, and the two words share a surprisingly humble ancestor. Old English "hlāfordsċipe" combined "hlāford" (lord) with "-scipe," a suffix meaning state, condition or office, so a lordship was originally the rank or authority of a lord. The same word travelled north and reshaped itself in Scotland: it passed through Early Scots "lardschip" and Middle Scots "lairdschip," and the Scots form narrowed to a specific meaning, the position or domain of a laird, the Scottish landowner. Lairdships is simply the plural of lairdship, used when referring to several such estates or offices. The noun "laird" itself is a Scots development of "lord," and "-ship" is the familiar English suffix for rank, state or domain, so the word is a transparent compound of the two.