Seigneur

Terms

The English seigneur is borrowed from the French seigneur, which descends from Middle French seigneur, from Old French seignor (oblique form of sire), from Latin seniōrem, the accusative singular of senior ("elder"), the comparative form of senex ("old, elderly"). It is a doublet of the English words senior, sir, sire, seignior, sieur, and monsieur and shares the same provenance as the Italian signore, Portuguese senhor, and Spanish señor, which—like mister—referred to feudal lords before becoming general words of respectful address towards men.

The noble title and land title of a seigneur is a seigneurie or lordship, the rights that the seigneur was entitled to is called seigneuriage, and the jurisdiction exercised over the fief was seigneur justicier. The bearers of these titles, rights, and jurisdiction were generally but not exclusively male. A female seigneur was generally known as a seigneuresse or lady. The seigneur could be a noble or a roturier (commoner) as well as a corporation such as religious order, a monastery, a parish.

In English, seigneur is used in historical scholarship to discuss the French seigneurial system. It is also frequently calqued as "lord", the analogous term in the English feudal system.

The term grand seigneur has survived in English and French. Today this usually means an elegant, urbane gentleman. Some even use it in a stricter sense to refer to a man whose manners and way of life reflect his noble ancestry and great wealth. In addition, Le Grand Seigneur had long been the name given by the French to the Ottoman sultan. Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ is the French equivalent of the English Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The English word seignorage is also derived from seigneur.