messuage

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (law) a dwelling house and its adjacent buildings and the adjacent land used by the household

Etymology

From Late Middle English mesuage, messuage (“dwelling house, residence; farmstead; household”), from Anglo-Norman mesuage, messuage (“residence; holding”), probably from Late Latin mesuagium, messuagium, probably ultimately from Latin mānsiō (“abode, dwelling, habitation, home”) or its etymon mānsus (“having remained or stayed”), the perfect passive participle of maneō (“to abide; to remain, stay”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to remain, stay”). Cognates * Late Latin mansuagium * Old French masuage (“property rented on an annual basis”)

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