- 1（舊時領主的）領地、莊園
Long ago, a lord’s demesne was the land he kept for himself — the big house and the fields around it that were his to use, not rented out to farmers. In history books it is a legal and land word from medieval times. You will meet it in old novels and maps of manors, not in the shop. It looks as if it should sound like “de-mez-nee,” but the s is quiet: it sounds like domain. That is not an accident. Demesne and domain are two English shapes of the same old word, from Latin for “belonging to a lord.” Writers added the s later. It was never really sounded, and it is not part of the original word. They did it partly because another land word, mesne, was in the air, and partly to mark a long vowel, the way isle and aisle do. So the spelling is a little dishonest, and the history books kept it anyway.
組成From Anglo-Norman / Old French demeine, demaine (“power; what belongs to a lord”), from Latin dominicus “belonging to a master,” from dominus “lord.” The same source gave English domain. The s was added later and is not sounded.
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
demesnenoun/dɪˈmeɪn/
- 1
A lord's chief manor place, with that part of the lands belonging thereto which has not been granted out in tenancy; a house, and the land adjoining, kept for the proprietor's own use.
- And whanne he sawe that he lete charce her oute of this land and bytoke hit me and alle this land in my demenys And when he saw that, he let chase her out of this land, and betook it me, and all this land in my demesnes.
- The Duke of Argyle led the way in silence to the small postern by which they had been admitted into Richmond Park, so long the favourite residence of Queen Caroline. It was opened by the same half-seen janitor, and they found themselves beyond the precincts of the royal demesne.
- 2
A region or area; a domain.
- Oft of one wide expanse had I been told / That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne; […]
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。