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A title or degree of nobility; originally, the possessor of a fief, who had feudal tenants under him; in modern times, in France and Germany, a nobleman next in rank below a count; in England, a nobleman of the lowest grade in the House of Lords, being next below a viscount.

The land which gives title to a baron. [Obs.]

A baron's wife; also, a lady who holds the baronial title in her own right; as, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.

A Turkish title of honor, now written pasha. See Pasha.

Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book. Bastard ashlar (Arch.), stones for ashlar work, roughly squared at the quarry. -- Bastard file, a file intermediate between the coarsest and the second cut. -- Bastard type (Print.), type having the face of a larger or a smaller size th…

lies, who wait in turn a week each. [Eng.] -- Ladies of the bedchamber, eight ladies, all titled, holding a similar official position in the royal household, during the reign of a queen. [Eng.]

The title of a heathen deity to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; hence, the Devil or a devil. See Baal.

A title of honor in Turkey and in some other parts of the East; a bey.

esidence, settlement, or inhabitancy, whether by birth or operation of law, so as to be entitled to maintenance by the parish or town. Bastards also are settled in the parishes to which the mothers belong. Blackstone.

To address by the title of "lord".

Receiving, or entitled to have or receive, advantage, use, or benefit; as, the beneficial owner of an estate. Kent.

Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born. Lest there be any . . . profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb.…

The official title applied to that one of the Anglo-Saxon chieftains who was chosen by the other chiefs to lead them in their warfare against the British tribes. Brande & C.

A warrant from the government, granting a privilege, title, or dignity. [French usage].

An abridgment; a compend; an epitome; a brief account or summary. A book entitled the abridgment or breviary of those roots that are to be cut up or gathered. Holland.

from a bull, in its parchment, written character, date, and seal. See Bull. -- Brief of title, an abstract or abridgment of all the deeds and other papers constituting the chain of title to any real estate. -- In brief, in a few words; in short; briefly. "Open the matter in brief." Shak.

w a major general. He commands a brigade, and is sometimes called, by a shortening of his title, simple a brigadier.

The title of an incarnation of self-abnegation, virtue, and wisdom, or a deified religious teacher of the Buddhists, esp. Gautama Siddartha or Sakya Sinha (or Muni), the founder of Buddhism.

ency. Those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. Burke.

Originally, one appointed to the command of a burg (fortress or castle); but the title afterward became hereditary, with a domain attached.