manorn.
/ˈmanə/, U.S. /ˈmænər/ 1. An estate of a lord, including both the land and the manor house or mansion; a landed possession. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > [noun] > manor
buryc1175
manorc1300
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > a landed property or estate
homeOE
landsc1000
estrec1275
manorc1300
stead1338
room?a1513
soil1575
demesne1584
proprietary1608
land-gooda1626
country estate1692
property1719
quinta1754
estate1772
hacienda1772
concern1787
finca1909
c1290 Britton (1865) I. ii. xix. §4. 333 Car en une vile porrount estre plusours paroches, et en une paroche plusours maners, et hameletz plusours porrount apendre a un maner.]
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 524 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 121 (MED) Ich hote ov euerechone þat ȝe beon þat ilke dai At mi maner at Clarindone.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) John iv. 5 Jhesu cam in to a citee of Samarie..bisydis the manere of feeld [L. prædium], that Jacob ȝaf to Joseph.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 147 Woll I that ye geff unto youre brother all the hole maner with the apportenaunce undir this fourme, that sir Outelake holde the maner of you and yerely to gyff you a palfrey to ryde uppon.
a1500 (a1400) Sir Cleges (Adv.) (1930) 62 (MED) His maners he ded to wede sett.
1542 in D. H. Fleming Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1921) II. 9/1 Baronie de Melgund vocata North Melgund, terris dominicalibus vocatis le maner de North Melgund.]
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iii. ii. 9 I know a man that had this tricke of melancholy hold [read sold] a goodly Mannor for a song. View more context for this quotation
a1656 R. Gordon Geneal. Hist. Earldom of Sutherland (1813) 8 In all..Southerland ther is not a toun, village or mannour without the commodity either of the sea or of a river.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. iii. ii. 158 Contiguous to Mr. Allworthy's Estate was the Manor of one of those Gentlemen who are called Preservers of the Game. View more context for this quotation
1790 Loiterer No. 57. ⁋5 My Father offered to conduct him to the best Nide of Pheasants on the Manor.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Forty-foot, a right of forty-foot which the tenants of certain manors had over the soil of an adjoining manor.
1911 F. H. Burnett Secret Garden xxvii. 298 ‘Our Dickon’, they volunteered, was over at the manor working in one of the gardens.
1990 C. Laird Forgotten Son (1992) ii. 26 For six months they had shared the running of the manor with very few disagreements.
2. † b. figurative. An abode or resting place. Obsolete.
a. A mansion or country residence; the principal house of an estate, spec. (in Law) that occupied by the owner of the estate.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > manor house
hallc1000
boroughc1175
court1297
manorc1300
palacec1300
mansion1375
placea1387
manor-place1392
chemis1408
head-place1463
mansion place1473
manse1490
court-hall1552
manery1563
manor house1575
seat1607
country seat1615
great house1623
mansion house1651
country house1664
manor-seata1667
place-house1675
mansion-seat1697
hall-house1702
big house1753
ha'-house1814
manoir1830
manor hall1840
yashiki1863
seigneury1895
stately home1934
stately2009
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 2044 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 165 (MED) Oþur he schal ouwer londes aboute and ower maneres maken wel bare.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 10231 (MED) Þe bissop of eli & þe king sone wende To a maner þer biside.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 95 (MED) Of þir redez, þai make þare houses and maneres and schippez.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 268 Whan that ye com within yondir maner, I am sure ye shall fynde there many knyghtes of the Rounde Table.
a1475 Bk. Curtasye (Sloane 1986) l. 601 in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 319 Of þe resayuer speke wylle I, Þat..ouer-seys castels, maners a-boute.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvi. 337 In the hawch of lyntoun-le He gert thame mak a fair maner.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 242/2 Manner a dwellyng place, maison de plaisance.
1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. B.vii They are soo troubeled wyth lordlye liuyng,..and moilyng in their gay manoures..:that they canne not attende it.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 26 Thys yere the kynge byldyd new hys maner of Shene.
1561 J. Dolman (title) Those fyve Questiones, which..Cicero disputed in his Manor of Tusculanum.
1610 Histrio-mastix v. 216 They have..ruin'd Churches, Townes, Burn't goodly Manours, and indeed lay'd wast All the whole Country.
a1656 R. Gordon Geneal. Hist. Earldom of Sutherland (1813) 427 The thanedome of Kincardin, with the mannor, castle and parke thereof.
1789 D. Davidson Thoughts Seasons 89 Michael wi' a mather fu' Crys ‘Welcome to the manor’.
1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall II. x. 166 His mother..had desired him to call at the manor and beg the pleasure of my company to a friendly, family dinner.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch II. xxxiv. 183 Mrs Cadwallader made one of the group that watched old Featherstone's funeral from an upper window of the manor.
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers vii. 169 The crypt underneath the manor was beautiful, and in perfect preservation.
1986 U. Holden Tin Toys (1987) xii. 131 We played late into the evenings, staying on the upper lawn, close to the manor's grey walls.
ΚΠ
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. x. 15 Dowel & dobet & dobest þe þridde Beþ maistris of þis maner þis maide to kepe.
c1450 ( G. Chaucer Bk. Duchess 1004 Trouthe hymself,..Had chose hys maner principal In hir, that was his restyng place.
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) (1859) iii. x. 56 This pytte is the chyef and the manoyr [a1500 Egerton palice] of helle that is clepid Abissus.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 178 I shal be constrained, to entertaine some of them into the manour of my memorie.
3.
a. Originally (in Feudal Law): a unit of English territorial organization, consisting of the lands belonging to or under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. Later: an estate in land consisting of demesnes and services. Now: the demesne (if any) of a lord together with the lands from whose holders the lord may exact certain fees, etc. Cf. manorial system n. at manorial adj. 2.The origins of the manor have been found by historians in various of the units of territorial organization employed by the Anglo-Saxons, at the latest by the 10th cent. Under the Anglo-Saxons, a manor came to consist essentially of land held in demesne by a lord, to which was attached a seignory over freehold tenants sufficient in number (the minimum is variously stated as two or three) to constitute the court, called at a relatively late time the court-baron, which the lord was bound to hold and the tenants to attend. A ‘court customary’ was also held in all manors where there were copyhold or customary tenants of the demesne.Manors were not abolished by the Law of Property Act 1925, but since that statute enacted the enfranchisement of copyholds and customary freeholds, as well as the extinction of many manorial privileges and customs, the practical importance of manors was considerably reduced. Some manorial privileges have survived, however, such as rights to mines and minerals. In theory manorial courts may still be held, although with greatly curtailed jurisdiction (see manor court n. at Compounds 2).A manor is usually named after the principal township, as ‘the manor of Barnstaple’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > manor
manor1399
manorship1778
1399 Rolls of Parl. III. 452/1 And that all the Patentes..of thes Names, Castels, Maners, Lordesships..be ȝolden uppe into the Chauncellerie.
1423 Petition in Fenland Notes & Queries (1907–9) 7 307 (MED) The pore tenaunts..be grevyd and chargyd with the ferme of v wyndmylles sumtyme longyng to the maner of Sutton.
1528–30 tr. T. Littleton Tenures (new ed.) f. vii In dyuers lordeshyppes and maners there is suche custome.
1601 W. Fulbecke Parallele or Conf. Law i. 18 A manor is an inheritance of auncient continuance consisting of demesnes & seruices, perquisites, casualties, things appendant and regardant, customes, liberties, &c.
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 221 A Mannor of an hundred tenements.
1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 141 If the Lord purchase their Lands, the Manor is destroyed.
a1628 T. Risdon Note-bk. (1897) 124 Unto him the king gave Constanc, his base daughter, with the mannor of South Tawton.
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon ii. v. 235 This Ancient and Illustrious Family, are possessors of many goodly Mannors in Guienne.
1731 Gentleman's Mag. 1 351 The Scholars, according to Custom, hunted a Ram, by which, the Provost and Fellows [of Eton] hold a Manor.
1797 Encycl. Brit. X. 543/2 By an ancient custom of this manor [sc. Mansfield], the heirs were declared of age as soon as born.
1811 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. Feb. 139 You'll..see what game my manor yields.
1818 H. Hallam View Europe Middle Ages II. viii. 162 Few of English birth continued to enjoy intire manors, even by a mesne tenure.
1890 F. Pollock Oxf. Lect. 117 In the English manor the community is the oldest element, and the lordship a newer one.
1910 J. W. Harper Social Ideal xxi. 243 The township is older than the manor..English feudalism destroyed the territorial organisation and reared itself on the ruins of the townships.
1964 J. Gould & W. L. Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 268/2 We might call feudal a polity whose economic foundation consists of manors.
1992 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 25 Dec. 57/1 Stephen Fry plays Peter, a painfully earnest young aristocrat who's just inherited his father's manor and title.
b. With distinguishing word or words. assessionable manor n. each of the manors into which the Duchy of Cornwall is divided, to which commissioners are appointed periodically for the purpose of assessing them or letting them on the best terms. customary manor n. now historical a manor which had lost its manorial status because the necessary number of freeholders required to hold the court-baron no longer owed duties to the lord of the manor. manor in ancient demesne n. a manor which at the time of the Norman Conquest formed part of the royal domain. manor in gross n. now historical a manor from which the demesne had been separated, leaving only the associated rights and privileges to the lord (cf. seigniory in gross at seigniory n. 2b). reputed manor n. (also manor by reputation) a manor which has lost its manorial status by expiry of some necessary adjunct.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > manor > type of
manor in gross1607
royalty1652
capital manor1799
reputed manor1839
1607 J. Cowell Interpreter sig. Tt2v A man may haue a maner in grosse (as the law termeth it) that is, the right and interest of a court Baron, with the perquisites thereunto belonging: and another or others haue euery foote of the land thereunto belonging.
1708 Rastell's Termes de la Ley (new ed.) 268 Suitors in a Court of a Mannor in Ancient Demesne, who are Judges there.
1829 R. V. Barnewall & C. Cresswell Rep. Cases King's Bench 8 740 The seventeen manors hereafter mentioned as assessionable manors.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 388/1 In the assessionable manors, parcel of the duchy of Cornwall, customary estates for years still subsist.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 389/1 Such an estate is however more frequently called ‘a manor by reputation’.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 389/2 The estate of the grantor, which..would consist of the mansion and the other ungranted portions of the villenage, with the services of the grantees appendant thereto, was called a customary manor.
1890 F. Pollock Oxf. Lect. 114 A ‘reputed manor’ will serve as well as a real manor for most purposes.
1959 Earl Jowitt & C. Walsh Dict. Eng. Law II. 1137/2 If a copyhold tenement had by immemorial custom been treated by the tenant as if it were itself a manor,..this formed a customary or copyhold manor, and the tenant was called a customary lord.
1989 in J. B. Saunders Words & Phrases legally Defined (ed. 3) III. 95/2 The provisions of the latter Act [sc. the Law of Property Act 1925] relating to freehold land were expressly applied to manors, reputed manors and lordships.
c. In North America: a tract of land for which tenants paid a fee-farm rent. Now historical.In some of the former American colonies, authority was given by royal charter for the creation of ‘manors’ after the English model, with courts-baron and seignorial rights. The Dutch governors of what is now the State of New York also granted ‘manors’, with certain hereditary privileges now abolished (see quot. 1870 and patroon n. 4). The term continues to be applied to certain districts (as Pelham Manor, Westchester County, New York State) in the United States which were ‘manors’ in colonial times.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > manor > colonial
manor1635
1635 in A. S. Batchellor et al. Probate Rec. New Hampsh. (1907) I. 8 All the Rest & residue of all & Singuler my Mannors Messuages, Lands Tenemts & hereditements.
1639 in Arch. Maryland (1883) I. 71 Punishment of death shall be inflicted on a Lord of a Mannour by beheading.
1681 Brief Acct. Province Pennsylvania 4 We give and grant License to..the said William Penn to erect any parcel of Lands within the said Province into Mannors to hold Courts-Baron [etc.].
1691 Acts of Assembly N.Y. (1719) 2 The several Cities, Towns, Counties, Shires, Divisions, or Manors of this Province.
1691 Acts of Assembly N.Y. (1719) 69 Being a Free-holder in any Manor, Liberty, Jurisdiction, Precinct, or Out-Plantation.
1764 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Mass.-Bay (1765) v. 447 They held their lands, as of the manor,..in free and common socage.
1779 P. Van Cortlandt Let. 30 June in J. Judd Corr. Van Cortlandt Family (1977) 334 I have Just Received a Letter from Cornelia who Informs me that there has been Continual Allarum In the manor.
1870 A. M. Burrill New Law Dict. (at cited word) In American Law, a manor is a tract held of a proprietor by a fee-farm rent in money or in kind, and descending to oldest son, who in New York is called a patroon.
1883 Encycl. Amer. I. 198 The manors, as the grants of the early Dutch rulers of New Netherland were called, have disappeared under the pressure of republican institutions.
1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor ii. xix. 319 But once I reach my manor on the Choptank—i'God!
1989 T. Clancy Clear & Present Danger v. 88 What had once been a plantation manor was obviously supposed to look like the island retreat of a top-drawer capitalist.
d. figurative and in extended use: an area or domain, esp. one over which a person or thing has possession or control. Now chiefly in sense 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > power > influence > [noun] > sphere of influence
pale1483
kitchen1552
demesne1597
manor1685
domain1744
ambient1902
turf1970
1685 W. Clark Grand Tryal xiv. 94 This is the Lord of the Earth..Who holds o' th' King of Heaven, in capite, This goodly Mannor.
1819 W. Lawrence Compar. Anat. (1844) ii. 28 The manor of living nature is so ample, that all may be allowed to sport on it freely.
1824 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XVI lxii. 95 The constable..Had bagged this poacher upon Nature's manor.
1874 A. J. Munby Diary 20 Apr. in D. Hudson Munby (1972) 366 I was ‘struck all of a heap’ by seeing..a picture of Wigan wenches working at brow. What right had this artist to poach on my manor?
4. to the manor born [variant of, error for, or (in sense 4(b)) punning on to the manner born at manner n. 3b] : (a) familiar from birth with, naturally suited for, or readily taking to a given role, task, custom, etc.; (b) born into, naturally suited for, or readily taking to upper-class life.
ΚΠ
1847 Biblical Repertory July 320 He intended..to return to Scotland and reside on his estate there as ‘though a native—and to the manor born’.
1849 Commerc. Rev. South & West July 55 Now many families have made it [sc. the lowland bordering the Mississippi River] their permanent residence; many who were to the manor born, as well as in the more humble walks of life.
1879 J. R. Planché Prince of Happy Land ii. i. 195 My name is Tan-ti-vee, A native chief, and to the manor born.
1897 M. W. Fordham Magnolia Leaves 18 For the rich reck not of privations and tears, Saying, ‘she is to the manor born’.
1916 Philos. Rev. 25 307 The modern man..is..one who looks upon Christianity not as an outsider, but as one to the manor born.
1962 Amer. Lit. 34 415 Not unequivocally to the manor born, he allied himself by marriage (three times) and personal preference with the first families of Virginia.
1986 Contemp. Sociol. 15 514/2 ‘A certain je ne sais quoi’, that is almost invariably (and not coincidentally) part of the habitus of those to the manner—or, more precisely, to the manor—born.
1990 R. Critchfield Among British i. 57 Upper-class accents can be learned; Baroness Blackstone, a Labour life peeress whose mother was a dancer, sounds to the manor born.
5. colloquial (originally and chiefly British). A person's home ground, one's own particular territory; spec. a police district; a local unit of police administration.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > police district
manor1862
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > [noun] > place to which one belongs
homeOE
element1599
manor1945
1862 W. Cheadle Jrnl. 16 Dec. (1931) 95 ‘Oh, I'll go and see your traps when I come back if you like.’ ‘Oh no,’ said he ‘for you'll find out my walk & be poaching on my manor!’
1925 S. Scott Human Side Crook Life vii. 107 There are straight crooks and crooked crooks on the ‘Manor’ of a detective, and he gets to know them apart.
1945 M. Allingham Coroner's Pidgin xxiii. 202 Do you realize who the Coroner is for those parts?.. It's Montie Forster's manor.
1959 Observer 1 Mar. 10/1 This ‘manor’—a tenement neighbourhood in North London—is theirs by right of birth and conquest.
1961 C. Witting Driven to Kill 24 If anything's happened to Pearce, it's in my manor, so I'm interested.
1970 P. Laurie Scotl. Yard 287 Every non-policeman knows that detectives call their working-area their ‘manor’ or ‘patch’... What they actually said was ‘ground’.
1986 B. Forbes Endless Game i. iii. 56 He also had a healthy respect for his own Chief Constable, who deeply resented any intrusion into his manor.
1997 ‘Q’ Deadmeat 74 Froggy..joined a street writing crew and bombed trains, buildings and bridges. He built up quite a reputation, everyone in our manor knew his tag.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
manor farm n.
ΚΠ
1714 E. Freke Diary 15 Feb. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1913) 19 142 And the Maner Farme the barne allmost all down and the stable..Ruinated.
1789 G. White Nat. Hist. Selborne 4 Norton farm house, a manor farm to the north-west of the village.
1826 M. R. Mitford Our Village II. 51 It had been anciently a great manor-farm or court-house.
1992 E. V. Thompson Wychwood (BNC) 435 The last remaining section of Wychwood Forest belongs to the manor farm.
manor hall n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > manor house
hallc1000
boroughc1175
court1297
manorc1300
palacec1300
mansion1375
placea1387
manor-place1392
chemis1408
head-place1463
mansion place1473
manse1490
court-hall1552
manery1563
manor house1575
seat1607
country seat1615
great house1623
mansion house1651
country house1664
manor-seata1667
place-house1675
mansion-seat1697
hall-house1702
big house1753
ha'-house1814
manoir1830
manor hall1840
yashiki1863
seigneury1895
stately home1934
stately2009
1840 L. S. Costello Summer amongst Bocages & Vines I. xvi. 277 As he passed the Manor hall, He said..‘Hail’.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xvi. 160 It [sc. Wilton Hall] is..esteemed a noble specimen of the English manor-hall.
1959 Speculum 34 180 At Little Chesterford, near Saffron Walden, it is possible to see such columns in situ in a ground-floor manor hall.
1999 Gannett News Service (Electronic ed.) 6 Sept. At Philipse Manor Hall, you can see the elegantly ornate music room in which George [Washington] no doubt listened to Handel's latest hit.
manor lord n.
ΚΠ
1616 J. Lane Contin. Squire's Tale (Douce 170) (1888) i. vi. 76 B'entreatinge Manor Lordes, folkes lesse to fliȝe, commons renlarge, restore thold colonies.
1899 G. M. Trevelyan Eng. Age Wycliffe 339 If Lollard preachers had attacked..the rights of the manor lords, they soon ceased to do so.
1993 M. Clynes Grail Murders (BNC) 163 I kept a wary eye on Santerre for this bluff manor lord, usually afraid of nothing, stayed near the door like a child frightened of a dark, strange room.
manor yard n.
ΚΠ
1465 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 312 Sum of hem hauyng rusty pollexis and byllys, comyn in-to þe maner yard to kepe the court.
1667 Duchess of Newcastle Life Duke of Newcastle iii. 158 The Enemy..made a passage into the Mannor-yard.
1996 Christine's ‘Contagion made me Ill’ Mini-rev. in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet newsgroup) 26 Feb. They both rush out into the manor yard and find Tim crawling across Wayne's estate to his father's home next door.
C2.
manor court n. a court through which the lord of a manor exercised jurisdiction over his tenants in civil and minor criminal matters (chiefly in the medieval period, though continued later in adapted form in some places; see quot. 1992); cf. court-baron n.
ΚΠ
a1648 J. Godbolt Rep. Certain Cases Courts of Rec. Westm. (1652) Table sig. Nnn3 Steward of a Mannor-Court.
1754 G. Jeffreys Misc. 82 For, free from rent, I only then resort, As bound in duty, to the Manor Court.
1786 W. Gilpin Observ. Mountains & Lakes Cumberland (1788) II. 231 His manor-courts are kept with great strictness.
1890 F. Pollock Oxf. Lect. 130 It will not do, therefore, to assume that the manor court was made out of an older township court.
1992 Speculum 67 375 [In Laxton, England] decisions [concerning grazing] are reached and enforced, as in the Middle Ages, at a manor court.
manor law n. law relating to manorial customs and privileges; law relating to the powers and practices of manor courts.
ΚΠ
1861 Notes & Queries 6 July 11/1 I shall be grateful to anyone who..will direct me to the best works, ancient or modern, on Manors, Manor Law, and the Rights and Customs associated therewith.
1887 Athenæum 20 Aug. 235/3 Books on manor law became common.
manor pew n. now historical a church pew reserved for the household of the local manor.
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1853 Notes & Queries 12 Mar. 262/1 I should want little persuasion for commencing the destruction of my old manor pew, and the fixing of open seats in its site.
1892 J. C. Blomfield Hist. Heyford 46 Pews of different sizes, with the manor-pew overtopping the rest.
manor plantation n. U.S. regional (southern) (now historical) the principal plantation of a large landowner (usually that on which he or she resided).
ΚΠ
1717 Will Bk., Elizabeth City, Va. in C. R. Lounsbury Illustr. Gloss. Early Southern Archit. & Landscape (1994) 222 [A] manor plantation whereon my Son..now lives.
1806 Will Rev. C. Pettigrew in Dict. Amer. Eng. (1942) III. 1479/2 I leave my dearly & well beloved Wife Mary Pettigrew in the full possetion of my House & mannor plantation.
1989 William & Mary Q. 46 212 By residing on the manor plantation Kate came into close contact with whites.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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