chief lord

plural chief lords

1. historicallawSynonym of overlord: the lord of a fee immediately owed personal service or rent by a tenant, a tenant's liege lord.

   Most feudal obligations were owed to the chief lord of the estate, but others were owed only and directly to the king of the realm.

   3 more examples

   Forinsec, or Extrinsec, or Regal Service, was a Service which did not belong to the chief Lord, but to the King.

   1728, E. Chambers, Cyclopaedia, Service

   Chief lord, the feudal lord, or lord of an honour on whom others depend.

   1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 183

   land-male, a reserved rent charged upon a piece of land by the chief lord of the fee, or a subsequent mesne owner.

   1857, Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English

   Synonyms: overlord

2. inexactSynonym of overlord: a lord over other lords, a lord paramount.

   The chief lord over all other lords was the king.

   Synonyms: overlord