messuage
Plural: messuages
Noun
- A dwelling house with its adjacent buildings and land.
- (law) a dwelling house and its adjacent buildings and the adjacent land used by the household
- Originally, a plot of land as the site for a dwelling house and its appurtenant interests; now, a dwelling house or residential building together with its outbuildings and assigned land.
Examples
- Finding a place for MESSUAGE on the Words With Friends board was a rare architectural feat.
Origin / 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”)
Synonyms
mease#Etymology 3
Scrabble Score: 11
messuage: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmessuage: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
messuage: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary