mesne

POS

Adjective

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CIDE DICTIONARY

mesne, a. [Cf. Mean intermediate.].

Middle; intervening; as, a mesne lord, that is, a lord who holds land of a superior, but grants a part of it to another person, in which case he is a tenant to the superior, but lord or superior to the second grantee, and hence is called the mesne lord. [1913 Webster]

Mesne process, intermediate process; process intervening between the beginning and end of a suit, sometimes understood to be the whole process preceding the execution. Blackstone. Burrill. -- Mesne profits, profits of premises during the time the owner has been wrongfully kept out of the possession of his estate. Burrill.

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

mesne, adj. Law intermediate.

Idiom

mesne lord hist. a lord holding an estate from a superior feudal lord. mesne process proceedings in a suit intervening between a primary and final process. mesne profits profits received from an estate by a tenant between two dates.

Etymology

ME f. law F, var. of AF meen, MEAN(3): cf. DEMESNE