demesne

de·mesne  (d-mn, -mn)

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.]

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demesne [dim-mane]

Noun

1. land surrounding a house or manor

2. Property law the possession of one's own property or land

3. a region or district; domain [Old French demeine]

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, land freehold - an estate held in fee simple or for life immovable, real estate, real property, realty - property consisting of houses and land glebe - plot of land belonging to an English parish church or an ecclesiastical office leasehold - land or property held under a lease smallholding - a piece of land under 50 acres that is sold or let to someone for cultivation homestead - land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead law feoff, fief - a piece of land held under the feudal system barony - the estate of a baron countryseat - an estate in the country Crown land - land that belongs to the Crown manor - the landed estate of a lord (including the house on it) seigneury, seigniory, signory - the estate of a seigneur hacienda - a large estate in Spanish-speaking countries plantation - 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, land country, 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 archduchess barony - the domain of a baron duchy, dukedom - the domain controlled by a duke or duchess earldom - the domain controlled by an earl or count or countess emirate - the domain controlled by an emir empire, imperium - the domain ruled by an emperor or empress; the region over which imperial dominion is exercised fiefdom - the domain controlled by a feudal lord grand duchy - the domain controlled by a grand duke or grand duchess viscounty - the domain controlled by a viscount or viscountess khanate - the realm of a khan realm, kingdom - the domain ruled by a king or queen principality, princedom - territory ruled by a prince sheikdom, sheikhdom - the domain ruled by a sheik suzerainty - the domain of a suzerain region - a large indefinite location on the surface of the Earth; "penguins inhabit the polar regions"