Link Centre Dictionary

demesne

de·mesne

UK/dɪˈmeɪn/ US/dəˈmeɪn/ uncommon

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”
Synonyms
2.

territory over which rule or control is exercised

  • “his domain extended into Europe”
  • “he made it the law of the land”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English demayne, from Anglo-Norman demeyne, demene et al., Old French demeine, demaine, demeigne, domaine (“power”) (whence French domaine (“domain”)), a noun use of an adjective, from Latin dominicus (“belonging to a lord or master”), from dominus (“master, proprietor, owner”). See dame. Doublet of domain. The spelling with non-etymological s is partly due to influence from mesne and partly for the purpose of indicating a long vowel, as the s quiesced before a consonant; compare aisle, isle, Carlisle.

Phrases

  • Wallington Demesne

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.