demesne

de·mesne

D0120700 (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.

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[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

(dɪˈmeɪn; -ˈmiːn) n1. (Law) land, esp surrounding a house or manor, retained by the owner for his or her own use2. (Law) property law the possession and use of one's own property or land3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the territory ruled by a state or a sovereign; realm; domain4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a region or district; domain[C14: from Old French demeine; see domain]

de•mesne

(dɪˈmeɪn, -ˈmin)

n. 1. possession of land as one's own. 2. an estate occupied by and worked exclusively for the owner. 3. the dominion or territory of a sovereign or state; domain. 4. a district; region. [1250–1300; < Anglo-French demesne, Old French demein; see domain]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	demesne - extensive landed property (especially in the country) retained by the owner for his own use; "the family owned a large estate on Long Island"acres, landed estate, estate, landfreehold - an estate held in fee simple or for lifeimmovable, real estate, real property, realty - property consisting of houses and landglebe - plot of land belonging to an English parish church or an ecclesiastical officeleasehold - land or property held under a leasesmallholding - a piece of land under 50 acres that is sold or let to someone for cultivationhomestead - land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead lawfeoff, fief - a piece of land held under the feudal systembarony - the estate of a baroncountryseat - an estate in the countryCrown land - land that belongs to the Crownmanor - the landed estate of a lord (including the house on it)seigneury, seigniory, signory - the estate of a seigneurhacienda - a large estate in Spanish-speaking countriesplantation - an estate where cash crops are grown on a large scale (especially in tropical areas)entail - land received by fee tail
	2.	demesne - territory over which rule or control is exercised; "his domain extended into Europe"; "he made it the law of the land"domain, landcountry, land, state - the territory occupied by a nation; "he returned to the land of his birth"; "he visited several European countries"archduchy - the domain controlled by an archduke or archduchessbarony - the domain of a baronduchy, dukedom - the domain controlled by a duke or duchessearldom - the domain controlled by an earl or count or countessemirate - the domain controlled by an emirempire, imperium - the domain ruled by an emperor or empress; the region over which imperial dominion is exercisedfiefdom - the domain controlled by a feudal lordgrand duchy - the domain controlled by a grand duke or grand duchessviscounty - the domain controlled by a viscount or viscountesskhanate - the realm of a khanrealm, kingdom - the domain ruled by a king or queenprincipality, princedom - territory ruled by a princesheikdom, sheikhdom - the domain ruled by a sheiksuzerainty - the domain of a suzerainregion - a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth; "penguins inhabit the polar regions"

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