Definition

Noun: 1. A person or entity that owns land or property and rents or leases it to others, typically for payment (rent). This is the primary meaning, referring to the owner of residential or commercial real estate who grants a tenant the right to occupy it. 2. The owner or manager of a pub, inn, or similar establishment. This is a common, specific usage, particularly in British English, where the person in charge of a public house is called the landlord (or landlady).

Examples

• General Property Owner:

  • We notified our landlord about the leaking roof.
  • The landlord is responsible for maintaining the building's common areas.
  • She became a landlord when she started renting out her apartment.

• Pub/Owner:

  • The landlord of the "Red Lion" is very friendly.
  • He asked the landlord for another pint of beer.

Advanced Usage

• "Absentee landlord": A landlord who owns a property but does not live in or near it, often managing it remotely. This term can sometimes carry a negative connotation of neglect.
  • The building fell into disrepair under an absentee landlord.
• The term is gender-neutral, but the feminine form "landlady" is also commonly used.

Variants and Related Words

• Landlady (n): A female landlord.
  • Our landlady lives in the flat downstairs.
• Landlordism (n): A system or practice where land ownership and renting is concentrated in the hands of landlords.
• Lessor (n): A formal, legal synonym for a landlord who grants a lease.
• Property owner (n): A more general term that includes landlords but also those who occupy their own property.

Synonyms

• Lessor (formal/legal)
• Property owner
• Letter (archaic/legal)
• Publican (specifically for a pub landlord, chiefly UK)

Antonyms

• Tenant
• Lessee
• Renter
• Occupant

Related Phrases/Idioms

• "The landlord's hour": An old-fashioned phrase, not commonly used today, referring to closing time at a pub.
• While not a phrasal verb, the relationship is often described with the verb "to let" (UK) or "to rent out" (US).
  • He lets his house to students. (He is the landlord to student tenants.)

Noun

1. a landowner who leases to others