noun
- possession of land as one’s own: land held in demesne.
- an estate or part of an estate occupied and controlled by, and worked for the exclusive use of, the owner.
- land belonging to and adjoining a manor house; estate.
- the dominion or territory of a sovereign or state; domain.
- a district; region.
noun
- land, esp surrounding a house or manor, retained by the owner for his own use
- property law the possession and use of one’s own property or land
- the territory ruled by a state or a sovereign; realm; domain
- a region or district; domain
c.1300, demeyne (modern spelling by late 15c.), from Anglo-French demesne, demeine, Old French demaine “land held for a lord’s own use,” from Latin dominicus “belonging to a master,” from dominus “lord.” Re-spelled by Anglo-French legal scribes under influence of Old French mesnie “household” (and the concept of a demesne as “land attached to a mansion”) and their fondness for inserting -s- before -n-. Essentially the same word as domain.