manse

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English manss, also mans,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Medieval Latin mansus (“dwelling, house, homestead, manor”), also mansa and mansum,^[5][2][6][7] dictionaries differing over which of these forms they name.^[3][8][9][4] The OED derives the Medieval Latin word either from the past participial stem of maneō (“to dwell, remain”) or from a Latin noun mansus (“lodging”), found in a single inscription and itself formed from the same verb.^[5] Other dictionaries take it simply as a past participle of that verb used as a noun,^[9][8][2][7] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to remain”).^[9] The Medieval Latin word also gave Old French mes (“dwelling, farmhouse”), Occitan mas (“farmhouse”) and Catalan mas, and French later borrowed manse (“manor”) as a learned word in 1732.^[5][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The principal house of an estate, a mansion: 1490, in the Acts of the Lords of Council.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a name for a substantial house, and that sense lasted until 1848 in the OED's records.^[5] From 1534 it was used of a clergyman's residence,^[5][8] at first a parish or college house, and later especially one for a minister of a Nonconformist or Presbyterian Church, above all in Scotland.^[5][2][6] The Scottish use is well recorded in Wright's dialect dictionary, from Skene (1681) and Burns's "Faith! the birkie wants a manse" (1785) to Barrie.^[11] Johnson (1755) gave only "a parsonage house", and his 1773 edition added "farm and land".^[12] This land sense, an area thought sufficient to support a family, is recorded from 1597, in Skene.^[5][13] Son of the manse, and the like, for a minister's child, is recorded from 1855.^[5][6] For a short time, from 1710 to 1747, manse was also the revenue of an abbey or churchman, after a confusion in French with mense.^[5] Merriam-Webster also records the word for any large, imposing house.^[2]

Timeline

• 1490 – the principal house of an estate (obsolete by 1848).^[5][8]
• 1534 – a clergyman's residence.^[5][8]
• 1597 – a measure of land to support a family.^[5]
• 1710 – the revenue of an abbey or churchman (obsolete by 1747).^[5]
• 1855 – son of the manse, a minister's son.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The house provided for a minister of certain Churches, especially a Presbyterian one in Scotland.^[14][2][5]
2. A large, imposing house: They bought an old manse on the hill.^[2]
3. (historical) An area of land thought sufficient to support a family, especially as a Church endowment.^[5][6][12]
4. (obsolete, 1490–1848) The principal house of an estate; a mansion.^[5][6]

Related words

• manor
• mansion
• remain
• mese

Usage notes

The OED and the Middle English Dictionary also have an unrelated verb manse, to excommunicate or curse (about 1175 to 1475), shortened from amanse; the Middle English Dictionary has a noun manse, cursing, from it.^[5][15]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)