laird

1. (historical) A feudal lord in Scottish contexts.historical

2. (chiefly Scotland) An aristocrat, particularly in Scottish contexts and in reference to the chiefs of the Scottish clans.Examples: "Now Wiſe, and Rich, and Worthie, and Wonderful, and Faithful and True, and Rare, & Charitable, and Great Laird of Carnwath, Be not Prowd, altho I Commend you at ſuch a Rate behind your back and yet never ſaw You..."; "Once I was call'd a great Fife laird, I dwelt not far from the Hall-yard: [...] O! but it's long and many a year, Since laſt my feet did travel here. I find great change in old lairds places, I know the ground, but not the faces, Where ſhall I turn me firſt about, For my acquaintance is worn out?"; "[H]e brought with him money enough to purchase the small estate of Monkbarns, then sold by a dissipated laird to whose father it had been gifted, with other church lands, upon the dissolution of the great and wealthy monastery to which it had belonged."Scotland

3. (chiefly Scotland) A landowner, particularly in Scottish contexts.Examples: "In Scotland, the traditional term for the owner of an upland estate is the ‘laird’. [...] Well into the post-war period, the lairds of large estates were generally treated deferentially by local people but times have changed, [...] It would be a mistake to equate the title ‘laird’ to a British ‘lord’, as it does not confer any political standing, but the fact that some of Scotland’s lairds sit in the House of Lords can confuse the outsider."Scotland