mesne
Americanadjective
adjective
-
intermediate or intervening: used esp of any assignment of property before the last
a mesne assignment
-
rents or profits accruing during the rightful owner's exclusion from his land
Etymology
Origin of mesne
1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French, spelling variant of meen mean 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 1205 Farnham had bailiffs, and in 1207 it was definitely a mesne borough under the bishops of Winchester.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
For the charter was sealed and seisin delivered in the presence of Dom Galors, almoner of the Abbey, of Master Porges, seneschal of High March, and of one or two mesne lords of those parts.
From The Forest Lovers by Maurice Henry Hewlett
But, if these mesne tenants had possessed equal rights of voting with tenants in chief, it is impossible to conceive that they would have thought of claiming so unreasonable an exemption.
From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Henry Hallam
On frequent occasions the petty adjoining "Chinesified" states, of which Lu was practically the mesne lord, are stated to have been "tainted with Eastern barbarian rites."
From Ancient China Simplified by Edward Harper Parker
Was it to ask him about the mesne profits?—when he could refund them?—to tell him he would be sued, unless he did refund them?
From Verner's Pride by Mrs. Henry Wood
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
