Lord

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Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince

Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
or a feudal superior

Examples of feudalism

Examples of feudalism are helpful to fully understand feudalism and feudal society. Feudalism was practiced in many different ways, depending on location and time period, thus a high-level encompassing conceptual definition does not always provide a reader with the intimate understanding that detail of historical example provides....
(especially a feudal tenant who holds directly from the king, i.e., a baron

Baron

Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union 1800 in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain....
or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'. The title may also be used in conjunction with others to denote a superior holder of an otherwise generic title, in such combinations as "Lord Mayor" or "Lord Chief Justice".

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Encyclopedia

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince

Prince

Examples of feudalism

Baron

Peerage of the United Kingdom

Lady

A lady is the female equivalent of a lord, the counterpart of a gentleman, or any adult woman, though this usage is constrained....
'. However, this is not universal, as the Lord of Mann

Lord of Mann

The title Lord of Mann is used on the Isle of Man to refer to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who is the Island's Lords Proprietor and head of state....
and female Lord Mayors are examples of women who are styled 'lord'.

In religious contexts Lord can also refer to various different gods or deities. The earliest uses of Lord in the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
in a religious context were by English

England

Bede

Bede , , was a monasticism at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria....
. This reflected the Jewish practice of substituting the spoken Hebrew word 'Adonai

Names of God in Judaism

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people....
' (which means 'My Lord') for YHWH

Tetragrammaton

Tetragrammaton The letters, properly read from right to left , are:|-! Hebrew !! Letter name !! Pronunciation|-valign=top| ?'...
when read aloud.

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English

Oxford Dictionary of English

The Oxford Dictionary of English is a single-volume English language dictionary first published in 1998 by Oxford University Press. This dictionary is not based on the Oxford English Dictionary and should not be mistaken for a new or updated version of the OED....
, the etymology

Etymology

Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
of the word can be traced back to the Old English

Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
word 'hlaford' which originated from 'hlafweard' meaning 'bread keeper' or 'loaf-ward', reflecting the Germanic tribal custom of a chieftain

Germanic chieftain

In pre-Christian times tribal chiefs were both political and religious leaders, tasked to use their luck to secure the people fred . Arminius was a famous example....
providing food for his followers. Lady, the female equivalent, originates from a similar structure, believed to have originally meant 'loaf-kneader'.

Title

Peerage

Five ranks of peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. The term is used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titles, and individually to refer to a specific title....
exist in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, in descending order, these are: duke

Duke

A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin language Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Ancient Rome authors covering them to r...
, marquess

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European monarchies and some of their colonies. The term is also used to render equivalent oriental styles as in imperial China and Japan....
, earl

Earl

Earl was the Anglo-Saxons form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning "chieftain" and referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead....
, viscount

Viscount

A 'viscount' is a member of the European nobility whose count title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count ....
, and baron

Baron

Baron is a specific title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English language beorn meaning "nobleman."...
. The title 'Lord' is used most often by barons who are rarely addressed with any other. The style of this address is 'Lord (X)', for example, Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, is commonly known as 'Lord Tennyson'. The ranks of marquess, earl and viscounts commonly use lord as well, with viscounts using the same style as used for baron. However, marquesses and earls have a slightly different form of address where they can be called either the 'Marquess/Earl of (X)' or 'Lord (X)'. Dukes also use the style, 'Duke of (X)', but it is not acceptable to refer to them as 'Lord (X)'. Dukes are formally addressed as 'Your Grace', rather than 'My Lord'. In the Peerage of Scotland

Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the United Kingdom Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent ti...
, the members of the lowest level of the peerage have the title 'Lord of Parliament

Lord of Parliament

A Lord of Parliament is a member of the lowest rank of Scotland peerage, ranking below a viscount. A Lord of Parliament is said to hold a Lordship of Parliament....
' rather than baron.

For senior members of the peerage, the title lord also applies by courtesy

Courtesy title

A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used by children, former wives and other close relatives of a peerage . These style are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the users do not themselves hold substantive titles....
to some or all of their children; for example the younger sons of dukes and marquesses can use the style 'Lord (first name) (surname)'. The titles are courtesy title

Courtesy title

A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used by children, former wives and other close relatives of a peerage . These style are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the users do not themselves hold substantive titles....
s in that the holder does not hold a peerage, and is, according to British law

Law of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has three legal systems. English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Courts of Northern Ireland, which applies in Northern Ireland, are based on common law principles....
, a commoner

Commoner

In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the British monarchy nor a peerage. Therefore, any member of the British Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince William of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title, such as the Earl of Arund...
.

House of Lords

In the UK, the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords". The Parliament comprises the British monarchy, the British House of Commons , and the Lords....
(known commonly as 'the Lords') forms the upper house

Upper house

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house....
of Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom....
. Here all peers are treated as lords but there are three different classifications:

Most lords who hold peerages created before the passage of the Life Peerages Act 1958
Life Peerages Act 1958

The Life Peerages Act 1958 established the modern standards for the creation of life peers by the British monarchy of the United Kingdom. Life peers are barons and are members of the House of Lords for life, but their titles and membership in the Lords are not inherited by their children....
(and a handful who hold peerages created after then) are hereditary peers, who until 1999 constituted the most numerous category of lords sitting in the House. There are in excess of 700 lords whose titles may be inherited, however since the House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. It was a major constitutional enactment that Lords Reform greatly one of the chambers of Parliament, the House of Lords....
, they are no longer guaranteed a seat in the Lords and instead must take part in an election for a total of ninety-two seats. All male peers of England
Peerage of England

The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union 1707 in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Peerage of Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
, Great Britain
Peerage of Great Britain

The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800....
and the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom

The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union 1800 in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain....
were before 1999 entitled to sit in the House of Lords by virtue of their title. Peeresses were granted the right to sit
Peerage Act 1963

The Peerage Act 1963 is a significant act in the history of the British Peerage. It allowed the disclaiming of peerages, and permitted female and Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords....
in 1963. Peers of Scotland and Ireland, however, historically had limitations on their right to sit at Westminster. Between 1707 and 1963, Scottish peers
Peerage of Scotland

The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the United Kingdom Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent ti...
participated in elections to determine which of them would take the sixteen seats allocated to them. Elections were abolished
Peerage Act 1963

The Peerage Act 1963 is a significant act in the history of the British Peerage. It allowed the disclaiming of peerages, and permitted female and Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords....
in 1963, and from that time until 1999 all Scottish peers and peeresses were entitled to sit. Irish peers
Peerage of Ireland

The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those Peerage created by Monarchy of Ireland in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland or King of Ireland....
participated in similar elections between 1801 and 1922, when the Irish Free State
Irish Free State

The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand....
was established. Since 1922, Irish peers have not had a right to sit at Westminster by virtue of their Irish peerages. However, many Irish peers also hold peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
The importance of hereditary lords has declined steadily following the increase in the appointment of life peers. These peers are entitled to sit in the House of Lords for the duration of their life, but cannot transfer their titles to their heirs. They are rarely above the rank of baron. The first life peers were appointed to assist the House of Lords in exercising its judicial functions
Judicial functions of the House of Lords

The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom....
under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876
Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876

The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the judicial functions of the House of Lords in its modern form....
. Widespread appointment of life peers was enabled by the passage of the Life Peerages Act 1958
Life Peerages Act 1958

The Life Peerages Act 1958 established the modern standards for the creation of life peers by the British monarchy of the United Kingdom. Life peers are barons and are members of the House of Lords for life, but their titles and membership in the Lords are not inherited by their children....
. Since that Act was passed, some 1,086 life peers have been created. The only hereditary privilege associated with life peerages is that children of life peers are entitled to style themselves 'The Honourable
The Honourable

The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons....
(firstname) (surname)'.
These first two groups are collectively termed Lords Temporal as opposed to the third type of lord sitting in the House known as Spiritual Peers or Lords Spiritual. This group consists of twenty-six Church of England
Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
bishops who are appointed in order of superiority. Unlike Lords Temporal, who can be appointed from any of the four nations of the UK, only bishops with English Sees are eligible to sit in the Chamber. Bishops of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland , known informally by its Scots language name, The Kirk, is the national church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterianism church , decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
traditionally sat in the Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
but were excluded in 1638 following the Scottish Reformation
Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Roman Catholic Church in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed theology lines, and politically in the triumph of Engla...
. There are no longer bishops in the Church of Scotland
Bishops in the Church of Scotland

Like most Reformed Churches, the Church of Scotland has a Presbyterian polity which invests in a hierarchy of courts the authority which other denominations give to bishops....
in the traditional sense of the word, and that Church has never sent members to sit in the Westminster House of Lords. The Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be both Catholicism and Protestant Reformation....
ceased to send bishops to sit after disestablishment in 1871. The Church in Wales
Church in Wales

The Church in Wales is a member Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six dioceses in Wales. Like many Anglican churches, it recognizes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who does not however have any formal authority in Wales ....
ceased to be a part of the Church of England in 1920 and was simultaneously disestablished in Wales. Accordingly, bishops of the Church in Wales were no longer eligible to be appointed to the House as bishops of the Church of England.

Judiciary

The judges of the House of Lords, the final appellate Court of the United Kingdom, hold life peerages, and are addressed accordingly. They are known collectively as the Law Lords. The title 'Lord' is also used to refer to some judges who are not peers in some Commonwealth legal systems. Some such judges, for instance judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, are called 'Lords Justices', or 'Ladies Justices', as the case may be. Other such judges, for instance judges of Canadian provincial supreme courts, are known only as 'Justices' but are addressed in court as 'My Lord' or 'My Lady' or 'Your Lordship' or 'Your Ladyship'.

Examples of judges who use the title include:

The Law Lords or 'Lords of Appeal in Ordinary' who have the rank of life barons.
Judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the Courts of England and Wales, with only the Judicial functions of the House of Lords above it....
, known as 'Lords Justices of Appeal'.
Judges of the Scottish Court of Session
Court of Session

The Court of Session is the Supreme courts of Scotland civil court of Scotland. It is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal and sits exclusively in Parliament House, Edinburgh in Edinburgh....
, known as 'Lords of Council and Session'.
Judges of the Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India. According to the Constitution of India, the role of the Supreme Court is that of a federal court, guardian of the Constitution and the highest court of appeal....
and the High Courts of India
High Courts of India

India's law in India is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the apex of the hierarchy for the entire country and twenty-one High Courts at the top of the hierarchy in each State....
.

Lord of the Manor

The title of Lord of the Manor arose in the English

England

Manorialism

Manorialism or Seigneurialism was the organizing principle of rural economy and society widely practiced in Middle Ages western and parts of central Europe....
following the Norman Conquest. The title Lord of the Manor is a titular feudal dignity which is still recognised today. Their holders are entitled to call themselves "[Personal name], The Lord/Lady of the Manor of [Place name]" but, for example, the United Kingdom Passport Agency does not recognise such titles. The title is not a title of the nobility

Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
.

Laird

The Scottish title Laird is a shortened form of 'laverd' which is an old Scottish word deriving from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning 'Lord' and is also derived from the middle English word 'Lard' also meaning 'Lord'. 'Laird' is a hereditary title

Hereditary Title

Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are titles, positions or Style s that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families....
for the owner of a landed estate in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Gentry

Gentry generally refers to people of high social class, especially in the past. The word derives from the Latin gentis, meaning a clan or extended family....
. The title of Laird may carry certain local or feudal rights, though unlike a Lordship

Lord of Parliament

A Lord of Parliament is a member of the lowest rank of Scotland peerage, ranking below a viscount. A Lord of Parliament is said to hold a Lordship of Parliament....
, a Lairdship has never carried voting rights, either in the historic Parliament of Scotland

Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
or, after unification with the Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a state in North-West Europe. The Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and a number of smaller outlying islands?what is today the legal unit of England and Wales....
, in the British

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
House of Lords

House of Lords

Feudalism

In feudalism

Feudalism

Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period , in its most classic sense refers to a Middle Ages European political system composed of a set of reciprocal law and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs....
, a lord has aristocratic

Aristocracy

Aristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number....
rank, has control over a portion of land and the produce and labour of the serf

SERF

A spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometer achieves very high magnetic field sensitivity by monitoring a high density vapor of alkali metal atoms precessing in a near-zero magnetic field....
s living thereon. Knights or lesser lords would swear the oath

Oath

An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact....
of fealty

Fealty

An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas , is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint relic, thus binding the oath-taker before God.thus had to swear the oath....
to the lord, and would then become a vassal

Vassal

A vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudal of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fiefdom....
.

Bishops in the Middle Ages held the feudal rank of lord over their spiritual inferiors, hence today even bishops who do not sit as Spiritual Peers may be addressed as "Lord Bishop". As a reflection of its feudal (and thus territorial) nature, however, the title is generally reserved for diocesan bishop

Diocesan bishop

A diocesan bishop is a bishop in charge of a diocese. These are to be distinguished from suffragan bishops, Assistant Bishop, Coadjutor Bishop, auxiliary bishops, Metropolitan bishop, and Primate ....
s, not assistant

Assistant Bishop

A bishop of the Anglican Church appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Usually they are retired diocesan or suffragan bishop bishops, though occasionally active bishops are appointed....
or coadjutor bishop

Coadjutor bishop

A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese almost as co-bishop of the diocese....
s.

As part of the heritage of feudalism, lord can generally refer to superiors of many kinds, for example landlord

Landlord

Landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is Rentinged or leased to an individual or business, who is called a Leasehold estate ....
. In many cultures in Europe the equivalent term serves as a general title of address equivalent to the English

English language

French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
Monsieur, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
Señor, Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
Senhor
Senhor

Senhor , from the Latin Senior , is the Portuguese language word for Lord, Sir or Mister. Its feminine form is Senhora . Its Spanish language equivalent is Se?or....
, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
Signore, Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
Meneer/Mijnheer/De Heer (as in: to de heer Joren Jansen), German

German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
Herr, Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic languages unrelated to most other languages in Europe. It is mainly spoken in Hungary and by the Hungarian minorities in the seven neighbouring countries....
Úr, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
Kyrie
Kyrie

K?rie is from the Greek language word ????e , the vocative case of ?????? , meaning O Lord. It is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called K?rie, el?ison which is Greek language for Lord, have mercy....
or to the English formal "you" (Polish

Polish language

Polish , an official language of Poland, has the largest number of speakers of any West Slavic languages. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner through most of Poland, and it has a regular orthography....
Pan). See also gentleman

Gentleman

The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a man of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus . In this sense the word equates with the French gentilhomme , which latter term was in Great Britain long confined to the peerage....
.

Religion

People have often used the term 'lord' in religious contexts, where, The Lord refers to God

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
in Judaism

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
or Islam

Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
, or to God

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
, or the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

In Christianity, the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is the spirit of God. The term Christ , is also used to refer to this presence. That is, the Spirit is considered to act in concert with and share an essential nature with God the Father and God the Son ....
in Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
. In many Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
Bible

Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
s (such as the King James Version), the Hebrew name YHWH

Yahweh

Image:Tetragrammaton scripts.svg[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] and Hebrew alphabet Yahweh is the English rendering of , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton that was proposed by the Hebrew scholar Gesenius in the 19th century....
(the Tetragrammaton) is rendered LORD (all caps

All caps

In typography, all caps refers to text or a typeface in which all letters are capital letters.All caps is usually used for emphasis. It is commonly seen in the titles on book covers, advertising, billboard , and in dramatic newspaper headlines....
) or (small caps

Small caps

In typography, small capitals are uppercase graphemes set at the same height as surrounding lowercase letters or text figures. They are used in running text to prevent capitalized words from appearing too large on the page, and as a method of emphasis or distinctiveness for text alongside or instead of italics, or when boldface is inappr...
). This usage follows the Jewish practice of substituting the spoken Hebrew word 'Adonai

Names of God in Judaism

Septuagint

The Septuagint , or simply "LXX", is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 3rd century BC and 1st century BC in Alexandria....
mainly used the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
word Kyrios (meaning 'lord') to translate YHWH. As this was the Old Testament

Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
of the Early Church, the Christian practice of translating the divine name as 'Lord' derives directly from it.

In Hindu theology, The Lord or Svayam Bhagavan

Svayam Bhagavan

Svayam Bhagavan , "The Lord" or Lord Himself, is a Sanskrit theological term. The term refers to the concept of absolute representation of the monotheistic God as Bhagavan within Hinduism....
refers to the concept of absolute representation of the monotheistic God.

Other religious uses of the word Lord include:

Ba'al, or Baal, is a Northwest Semitic title meaning 'lord', used for various gods and local spirit-deities. In some texts, the term refers to Hadad
Hadad

Haddad ??? ??? was a very important northwest Semitic language storm and rain God , cognate in name and origin with the Akkadian language god Adad....
, the lord of the divine assembly whose name only priests were allowed to speak. References to Baal in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, such as the prophet Elijah's confrontation with Baal's priests, usually correspond to local gods rather than to Hadad.

Bel meaning 'Lord' is a common title of the Babylonian deity Marduk
Marduk

Marduk was the Babylonian language name of a late-generation god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon, who, when Babylon permanently became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi , started to slowly rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acqu...
.

En
EN (cuneiform)

EN is the Sumerian cuneiform for "lord" or "priest". Originally, it seems to have been used to designate a high priest or priestess of a Sumerian city-state's patron-deity - a position that entailed political power as well....
meaning 'Lord' as in Sumerian deities Enki
Enki

Enki was a deity in Mesopotamian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology. He was originally chief god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and also to Hittite and Hurrian areas....
and Enlil
Enlil

Enlil , was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Canaanite and other Mesopotamian clay and stone tablets....
.

In Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
it refers to the Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
and in Jainism
Jainism

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions that originated in India. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness....
to the Mahavira
Mahavira

Mahavira is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamana who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism....
.

The name of the god Adonis
Adonis

Adonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who enters Greek mythology in Hellenistic culture....
may derive from the Hebrew word for 'lord'.

In the Wiccan religion, the male god is also referred to as 'The Lord' and the female as 'The Lady'.

Dark Lord is a title usually used in religion to refer to the Devil
Devil

The Devil is the title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and some other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind....
and other demons or evil gods. The phrase does not occur in the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
.