1. Plural of mesne; intermediate or middle estates or holdings in a chain of feudal tenure.
Usage: legal/historical; archaic
2. In law, intermediate or intervening interests or profits arising from land between the original owner and the current holder.
Usage: legal; archaic

Examples

• The mesnes in the feudal system represented intermediate levels of land ownership between the king and the peasants.
• Medieval records documented the mesnes held by various lords throughout the kingdom.
• The court ruled on the distribution of mesnes profits among the competing claimants.
• Mesnes estates formed the backbone of the feudal hierarchy in medieval England.