Word of the Day

: December 25, 2012

lord of misrule

noun LORD-uv-miss-ROOL

What It Means

: a master of Christmas revels in England especially in the 15th and 16th centuries

lord of misrule in Context

Jesters, pipers, jugglers, and drummers followed the lord of misrule into the court for the singing of the carols.

"Christmas before Victoria was a wild affair, in which the fun was presided over by the Lord of Misrule, and it was full of lewd and naughty pranks-usually strictly for the grown-ups." - From an article in the Northern Echo, September 20, 2012

Did You Know?

Late in the medieval days of England, the royal court, the houses of noblemen, and many colleges at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford appointed a manager for their Christmas festivities and dubbed him the "lord of misrule" or the "abbot of misrule." The lord of misrule was responsible for arranging all Christmas entertainment, including plays, processions, and feasts. The lord himself usually presided over these affairs with a mock court and received comic homage from the revelers. Scholars believe that the name "lord of misrule" (sometimes capitalized, as in our second example sentence above) was taken from the name of the official who presided over an older New Year's celebration called the "Feast of Fools."