Lordings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used to refer to gentlemen or noblemen, typically in a respectful manner
2. An archaic noun denoting lords or nobility, often used in addressing or referring to men of higher rank
3. A form of address for men of distinction or rank, emphasizing their noble status in a historical context

Etymology: "Lordings" is the plural of "lording," a word built from "lord" with the suffix "-ing." In Old English, that suffix (spelled "-ing" or "-ling") could mark a person connected to or descended from someone, much as "-ling" still does in "darling" (dear one) or "duckling." A "lording" was therefore a little lord, or a lord's offspring or follower, and the plural "lordings" came to address or refer to men of rank. Because the suffix once carried diminutive or familial sense, "lordings" had a faintly affectionate or familiar tone when it was used to speak to a group, which is why Chaucer and other medieval writers could use it in direct address. Its later life was mostly literary, and today it survives chiefly in older poetry and in deliberate archaism.