Lord
.A nobleman.
The word lord is a contraction of hlaf-ord (Saxon for “loaf-author” or “breadearner”). Retainers were called hlaf-ætas, or “bread-eaters.” Verstegan suggests hlaf-ford, “bread-givers.” (See Lady.)
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.