mansion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæn.ʃən/, /ˈmæn.t͡ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mansioun, borrowed from Old French mansion (“stay, abode, house”) and directly from Latin mānsiō, mānsiōnem, a staying, night quarters, station,^[2][3][4] from mānsus, past participle of manēre, to stay, remain (see remain),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *men-, to remain.^[3][2] French maison, house, is from the same Latin word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of dwelling, abiding: before 1340, about 1340 in Barnhart.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The chief residence of a lord is the NODE's first sense and Etymonline's of the mid-14th century,^[6][3] while Barnhart dates manor house to before 1512.^[2] Mansions translated Greek monaí and Vulgate mansiones in John xiv, In my Father's house are many mansions;^[5][7] Trench notes that the translators meant resting places, not houses in the modern auctioneers' sense.^[7] Any large and stately house is from the 1510s,^[3] and Hoad dates the sense stately residence to the 19th century.^[4] In astrology it is one of the 28 divisions of the moon's path.^[8][9] In Britain mansions is also a block of flats.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1340 – a dwelling.^[5]
• mid-14th century – a lord's residence.^[3]
• before 1512 – a manor house.^[2]
• 1510s – a stately house.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large, stately house.
2. A manor house.
3. (archaic) A dwelling or abode.
4. (British, mansions) A block of flats.

Word family

• executive mansion

Related words

• manor
• manse
• maisonette
• menial
• menage
• remain
• permanent
• menagerie

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins