Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lord; ruler; chief; leader; prince.
  • noun The Lord; Lord God; Christ.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English drihten, from Old English dryhten ("a ruler, king, lord, prince, the supreme ruler, the Lord, God, Christ"), from Proto-Germanic *druhtinaz (“leader, chief, lord”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhereugh-, *dher- (“to hold, hold fast, support”), equivalent to dright (“army, host”) +‎ -en. Cognate with Scots drichtin, drichtine ("lord, the Lord"), and with Old Frisian drochten ("lord"), Old Saxon drohtin ("lord"), Middle High German truhten, trohten ("ruler, lord") (dialectal German Trechtin, Trechtein ("lord, God")), Danish drot ("king"), Swedish drott ("king, ruler, sovereign"), Icelandic dróttinn ("hero, ruler, lord"). Related also to Old English dryht ("a multitude, an army, company, body of retainers, nation, a people, men"), Old English ġedryht ("fortune, fate"), Old English drēogan ("to serve in the military, endure"). More at dree.

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Examples

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