overling

noun — 2 senses

overling

noun

Etymology From over + -ling on analogy with underling, or as a revived or dialectal term from Middle English overling (“a superior”). By surface analysis, over + -ling.

Rare A superior.

But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died, …1917, Rudyard Kipling, Mesopotamia (poem)
Reflex laughs from the underlings present, though only grim smiles from the overlings.1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

UK, Dialectal A ruler; master.

Antonyms: underling

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.