seigneur

noun

sei·​gneur sān-ˈyər How to pronounce seigneur (audio)
often capitalized
1
: a man of rank or authority
especially : the feudal lord of a manor
2
: a member of the landed gentry of Canada

Examples of seigneur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Patriots have lost five of six to Bills uber-QB Josh Allen, the reigning signal-caller seigneur of the AFC East. Christopher L. Gasper, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Jan. 2023 One is of course of George himself in gorgeous silver and velvet, a huge canvas that tested Lawrence’s skill in portraying him as a grand seigneur in the manner of the Sun King (see illustration on page 28). Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020 Sometime after the panel in Oslo, Searle was dishonorably discharged from his emeritus position at UC Berkeley for allegedly leveraging his branding as a genius to assert droit de seigneur and exploit, abuse, and assault a young woman. Wired, 20 Sep. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seigneur.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, from Medieval Latin senior, from Latin, adjective, elder — more at senior

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of seigneur was in 1592

Dictionary Entries Near seigneur

Cite this Entry

“Seigneur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seigneur. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

seigneur

noun
sei·​gneur sān-ˈyər How to pronounce seigneur (audio)
often capitalized

More from Merriam-Webster on seigneur

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!