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de·mesne (dĭ-mān, -mēn)
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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.]

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Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.