seigneur


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Related to seigneur: grand seigneur, droit du seigneur

seign·eur

(sān-yûr′, sĕn-yœr′)
n.
1. A man of rank, especially a feudal lord in the ancien régime.
2. In Canada, a man who owned a large estate originally held by a feudal grant from the king of France.
3. Used as a form of address for such a man.
[French, from Old French seignor, from Vulgar Latin *senior; see seignior.]
seign·eur′i·al adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

seigneur

(sɛˈnjɜː; French sɛɲœr)
n
1. (Historical Terms) a feudal lord, esp in France
2. (Historical Terms) (in French Canada, until 1854) the landlord of an estate that was subdivided among peasants who held their plots by a form of feudal tenure
[C16: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin senior, from Latin: an elderly man; see senior]
seiˈgneurial adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sei•gneur

(sinˈyɜr, seɪn-)

n.
(sometimes cap.)
1. a lord, esp. a feudal lord.
2. (in French Canada) a holder of a seigneury.
[1585–95; < French < Vulgar Latin *senior lord. See senior]
sei•gneu′ri•al, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun 1. [画像:seigneur - a man of rank in the ancient regime]seigneur - a man of rank in the ancient regime
liege lord, liege - a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service
overlord, lord, master - a person who has general authority over others
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
He was that absent-minded crank, a grand seigneur husband who was in no one's way, and far from spoiling the high tone and general impression of the drawing room, he served, by the contrast he presented to her, as an advantageous background to his elegant and tactful wife.
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Colbert, placed with Michel Letellier, secretary of state in 1648, by his cousin Colbert, Seigneur de Saint-Penange, who protected him, received one day from the minister a commission for Cardinal Mazarin.
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"Then," said the honest seigneur of Bracieux, "you have rendered me a service, and I thank you for it; for if you had not deceived me, I might have deceived myself.
Fouquet's, and that former monarchs gave the right to the seigneurs of Belle-Isle to arm their people." The major made a movement.
"Ah!" said D'Artagnan to himself, "can this be the Seigneur du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds?
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Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, Archbishop and Comte of Lyon, Primate of the Gauls, was allied both to Louis XI., through his brother, Pierre, Seigneur de Beaujeu, who had married the king's eldest daughter, and to Charles the Bold through his mother, Agnes of Burgundy.
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You've always seemed to me as fine as the gold they gild on lead; you were made to be the love of a great seigneur. I think you so clever that the trick you are trying to play off on me doesn't surprise me one bit; I expected it.
The poor Chevalier de Valois retained from his former life the need of bestowing gallant protection, a quality of the seigneurs of other days.
I remember how I, invariably so taciturn, suddenly fastened upon Zverkov, when one day talking at a leisure moment with his schoolfellows of his future relations with the fair sex, and growing as sportive as a puppy in the sun, he all at once declared that he would not leave a single village girl on his estate unnoticed, that that was his droit de seigneur, and that if the peasants dared to protest he would have them all flogged and double the tax on them, the bearded rascals.
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Then D'Artagnan described the meeting which he had at the church, and how he had found that lady who, with the seigneur in the black cloak and with the scar near his temple, filled his mind constantly.
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"A grand seigneur combined with a great connoisseur," opined the other heavily.
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