Why do some English-language texts refer to the Buddha as "Lord"?
In ancient Pali and Sanskrit texts the most common title for the Buddha is Bhagavan, which means someone rich and/or important (like e.g. Bill Gates or the president etc). This is how the Buddha is often called in the third person (i.e. Bhagavan raised from his seat and said...)
The way the Buddha is usually addressed in the second person (i.e. when you say &quot;yes, sir, I'll do as you say sir&quot;) - is &quot;bhante&quot;. This is understood to be a Pali version of the Sanskrit &quot;bhavantaḥ&quot; which means &quot;all of you&quot; or &quot;[plural] you&quot; or &quot;the big/important you&quot;.
Another common reference is Sugata, which means the lucky one or the successful one.
Finally sometimes he's called Jina which means the victor or the winner (in a battle).
Lord is a common English translation of the first title, Bhagavan, and sometimes of the second one, Bhante.