manse

Forms

manse m or f (plural manses)^[1][2] Old French had mans in the 12th century.^[3][2] Littré gives mas and meis as the Old French outcomes of the Latin word.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin mansus (“dwelling, house, farm holding, tenure”), taken as a term of feudal history,^[1][5] the masculine past participle, used as a noun, of Latin maneō (“to stay, dwell”).^[1][5][6] The Larousse starts from the feminine mansa.^[7] The neuter mansum gave mas, and the same verb gave manoir.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1732, in Liger's Nouvelle Maison rustique, which explains that manoir or manse once meant the land one plough could work.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

The word names the medieval farm holding: a rural dwelling with its garden and the fields attached to it, large enough to feed a family.^[5][7] Littré distinguished the manses of free men from servile manses.^[4] The phrase manse seigneurial (1873) is the part of the estate the great landowner farmed directly, as opposed to the land he granted out.^[5][1]

Timeline

• 12th century – Old French mans.^[3][2]
• 1732 – First record of manse, in Liger.^[1][5][7]
• 1873 – Manse seigneurial is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) In the early Middle Ages, a farm holding with a dwelling, its garden and fields, large enough to support a family; a small feudal estate.^[2][7][1]
2. Manse seigneurial: the part of a great estate farmed directly by the lord, as opposed to the holdings of his tenants.^[1][5]

Related words

• mas
• manoir
• maison
• Latin maneō

Usage notes

Littré also has a feminine manse that only refers to mense, the revenue of an abbey or a bishop, from Latin mensa (“table”); the two words are pronounced alike.^[4][2][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
2. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 265a
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse