Demesne

In the feudal system the demesne ( ; from Old French demeine, ultimately from Latin dominus, "lord, master of a household" – demesne is a variant of domaine with an unetymological s inserted) was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The system of manorial land tenure, broadly termed feudalism, was conceived in Western Europe, initially in France but exported to areas affected by Norman expansion during the Middle Ages, for example the Kingdoms of England, Sicily, Jerusalem, Scotland, and Ireland.