the.com/lordship

Feudal rent-seeking with better branding and a bigger house.

means A title or form of address for a lord, or the rank and authority that comes with being one.

from Built straight from 'lord' plus the suffix '-ship,' which just means 'state or condition of' (same ending you see in 'friendship' or 'leadership'). 'Lord' itself traces back to Old English 'hlāford,' literally a shortening of 'hlāfweard' — 'hlāf' (loaf, bread) plus 'weard' (keeper, guardian). So a lord was, at root, the 'loaf-ward' — the one who kept and doled out the bread to his household. Lordship, then, is the condition of being bread-keeper-in-chief, dressed up over the centuries into a mark of rank and a form of address.

origin
from old english hlaford, literally loaf-guardian
power source
land ownership, not merit
modern form
honorific title now mostly decorative
fun fact
you can legally buy a scottish lordship title
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