See Also: demesne(medicine)
demesne(dictionary)
demesne(dictionary)
DEMESNE, Eng(law)
ANCIENT DEMESNE, Eng(law)
TENANT OF THE DEMESNE, Eng(law)
SON ASSAULT DEMESNE, pleading(law)
DE SON TORT DEMESNE, Of his own wrong, pleading(law)

demesne (iou)



demesne noun & adjective. ME.
[Anglo-Norman, Old French demeine, later Anglo-Norman demesne, use as noun of adjective = of or belonging to a lord, from Latin dominicus of a lord or master, from dominus lord. Cf. DOMAIN.]
A. noun.
Law (now Hist.). The possession of real property as one's own. ME.
b. gen. Possession; dominion, power. ME-M18.
a. The land or territory subject to a ruler: sovereign territory; a realm, domain. arch. ME.
b. sing. & (freq.) in pl. Landed property, estates. L16.
a. Hist. Land held and worked by the owner for the maintenance of his or her own household, i.e. not let to a subordinate tenant. LME.
b. The land immediately adjacent to a manor-house etc. retained by the owner for his or her own use; the park, home farm, etc. M16.
fig. A district, a region; the territory or sphere of. arch. or poet. L16.
Phrases: ancient demesne (tenure of) land recorded in Domesday Book as belonging to the Crown. demesne of the Crown the Crown Lands. hold in demesne occupy as the owner, not sublet to a tenant or tenants. in one's demesne as of fee in one's possession as an inherited estate. royal demesne = demesne of the Crown above.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Of, pertaining to, or constituting a demesne. LME.
demesnial adjective = DEMESNE adjective M19.