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6 results for: Demesne

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
de·mesne    Audio Help   [di-meyn, -meen] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.possession of land as one's own: land held in demesne.
2.an estate or part of an estate occupied and controlled by, and worked for the exclusive use of, the owner.
3.land belonging to and adjoining a manor house; estate.
4.the dominion or territory of a sovereign or state; domain.
5.a district; region.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME demeine < AF demesne, OF demein; see domain]

—Related forms
de·mesn·i·al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Demesne

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
de·mesne    Audio Help   (dĭ-mān', -mēn')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Law Possession and use of one's own land.
  2. Manorial land retained for the private use of a feudal lord.
  3. The grounds belonging to a mansion or country house.
  4. An extensive piece of landed property; an estate.
  5. A district; a territory.
  6. A realm; a domain.


[Anglo-French, respelling (probably influenced by French mesne, variant of Anglo-Norman meen, middle, in legal phrase mesne lord, lord who holds a manor of a superior lord) of Middle English demeine, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French demaine; see domain.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
demesne 
1292, from O.Fr. demeine, from L. dominicus "belonging to a master," from dominus "lord." Re-spelled by Anglo-Fr. legal scribes under infl. of O.Fr. mesnie "household" (and the concept of a demesne as "land attached to a mansion") and their fondness for inserting -s- before -n-. Essentially the same word as domain.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
demesne

noun
1. extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use; "the family owned a large estate on Long Island" [syn: estate] 
2. territory over which rule or control is exercised; "his domain extended into Europe"; "he made it the law of the land" [syn: domain] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Demesne

De*main"\, n. [See Demesne.]

1. Rule; management. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

2. (Law) See Demesne.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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