demesne
/dɪˈmeɪn/
"demesne" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“demesne” is uncommon English (frequency #65,047 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,047
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A lord's chief manor place, with that part of the lands belonging thereto which has not been granted out in tenancy; a house, and the land adjoining, kept for the proprietor's own use.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | demesne |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɪˈmeɪn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #65,047 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “demesne” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
demesne is uncommon English at frequency #65,047 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /dɪˈmeɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for demesne in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English demayne, from Anglo-Norman demeyne, demene et al., Old French demeine, demaine, demeigne, domaine (“power”) (whence French domaine (“domain”)), a noun use of an adjective, from Latin dominicus (“belonging to a lord or master”), from domi… The correct English form is demesne, spelled D-E-M-E-S-N-E.
Definition
- 1A lord's chief manor place, with that part of the lands belonging thereto which has not been granted out in tenancy; a house, and the land adjoining, kept for the proprietor's own use.
- 2A region or area; a domain.
Etymology
From Middle English demayne, from Anglo-Norman demeyne, demene et al., Old French demeine, demaine, demeigne, domaine (“power”) (whence French domaine (“domain”)), a noun use of an adjective, from Latin dominicus (“belonging to a lord or master”), from dominus (“master, proprietor, owner”). See dame. Doublet of domain. The spelling with non-etymological s is partly due to influence from mesne and partly for the purpose of indicating a long vowel, as the s quiesced before a consonant; compare aisle, isle, Carlisle.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “demesne”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-M-E-S-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈmeɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.