seigneur

See also: Seigneur

English

Alternative forms

• seignior

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor. Doublet of senior, seignior, sire, and sir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛˈnjɜ/
• IPA^(key): /sɛˈnjɝ/

Noun

seigneur (plural seigneurs)

1. (French history) A feudal lord; a noble.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 156:

     There was less and less love lost between peasants and seigneurs. The services which the latter had provided for the peasant community in the past had diminished in value.

2. The hereditary feudal ruler of Sark.
   • 2012, Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 29 Oct 2012:

     Beaumont lives on Sark, a small, autonomous island twenty-five miles off the coast of Normandy, with her husband, Michael, the island's seigneur.

3. (Canada) A landowner in Canada; the holder of a seigneurie.

Coordinate terms

• seigneuresse (wife of a seigneur)
• seigneuresse (a female seingeur)

Derived terms

• seigneurial
• seigneury

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French

Etymology

From Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor (oblique form), from Latin seniōrem, accusative singular of senior (compare sire, derived from the nominative form). Doublet of senior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛ.ɲœʁ/, /se.ɲœʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

seigneur m (plural seigneurs, feminine seigneuresse or seigneuse)

1. lord (aristocrat, man of high rank)
2. lord (master)
3. (Canada) seigneur (a landowner, holder of a seigneurie)

Related terms

• seigneurial
• seigneurie
• sire
• monseigneur

Further reading

• “seigneur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• seringue

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French seignor.

Noun

seigneur m (plural seigneurs)

1. lord
2. sire (term of respect)

Descendants

• → English: seigneur
• French: seigneur

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Old French

Noun

seigneur oblique singular, m (oblique plural seigneurs, nominative singular sire, nominative plural seigneur)

1. Alternative form of seignor