Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
demesne - 5 dictionary results

de⋅mesne

[di-meyn, -meen]
–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


de⋅mesn⋅i⋅al, adjective
de·mesne   (dĭ-mān', -mēn')   
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.]

Demesne

De*mesne"\, n. [OE. demeine, demain, rule, demesne, OF. demeine, demaine, demeigne, domaine, power, F. domaine domain, fr. L. dominium property, right of ownership, fr. dominus master, proprietor, owner. See Dame, and cf. Demain, Domain, Danger, Dungeon.] (Law) A lord's chief manor place, with that part of the lands belonging thereto which has not been granted out in tenancy; a house, and the land adjoining, kept for the proprietor's own use. [Written also demain.] --Wharton's Law Dict. Burrill.

Ancient demesne. (Eng. Law) See under Ancient.

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.

demesne

in English feudal law, that portion of a manor not granted to freehold tenants but either retained by the lord for his own use and occupation or occupied by his villeins or leasehold tenants. When villein tenure developed into the more secure copyhold and leaseholders became protected against premature eviction, the "lord's demesne" came to be restricted and usually denoted the lord's house and the park and surrounding lands

Learn more about demesne with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Search another word or see demesne on Thesaurus | Reference