Etymology

mesne lord

Today it means: A lord entitled to rent or feudal obligations from tenants but who himself owes rent or feudal obligations to another. Full definition →

Old French mesne
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The story

  1. Old French · derived frommesne
  2. English todaymesne lord

Distinguishing the nature of the lord as intermediate (Old French mesne, "middle"), particularly as opposed to lords paramount and tenants-in-chief.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.