demesne

C2+ Topic:Nature & Landscape

US /dɪˈmeɪn/ UK /dɪˈmeɪn/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
land attached to a manor and held for the owner's own use

The lord rode out across his ancestral demesne.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · land attached to a manor... domain estate territory manor realm dominion grounds

Word family

Related forms domain dominion

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman demeyne and Old French demeine ('belonging to a lord'), from Latin dominicus ('of a lord'), from dominus ('lord, master'). The spelling was altered by analogy with mesne.

demeine Old French dominicus Latin dominus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Nature & Landscape

# demesne

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** dɪˈmeɪn
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈmeɪn

## Meanings
1. land attached to a manor and held for the owner's own use

## Examples
- The lord rode out across his ancestral demesne.

## Synonyms
- domain
- estate
- territory
- manor
- realm
- dominion
- grounds

## Related Forms
- domain
- dominion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: demeine
- Root: dominicus
- Root: dominus

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman demeyne and Old French demeine ('belonging to a lord'), from Latin dominicus ('of a lord'), from dominus ('lord, master'). The spelling was altered by analogy with mesne.

## AI Etymology
Demesne is from Anglo-Norman demeyne and Old French demeine ('belonging to a lord'), from Latin dominicus ('of a lord'), from dominus ('lord, master'). The spelling was altered by analogy with mesne. The ancestry passes through Old French demeine, Latin dominicus, and Latin dominus. In present use as a noun, it means "land attached to a manor and held for the owner's own use", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include domain and dominion. The surrounding word family keeps the same base visible in domain and dominion, showing how the headword belongs to a larger cluster rather than standing alone.

## Topics
- Nature & Landscape

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demesne

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