Demayne

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To stay or continue to reside in a particular location or condition
2. To remain or linger in a place for a period of time
3. To abide or persist in a state or location

Etymology: "Demayne" is an obsolete spelling of "demesne," and its story runs through the Latin word for "lord." The Latin "dominicus" meant "belonging to a lord or master," and it was built from "dominus," meaning "master" or "owner." Old French turned that adjective into a noun, "demeine" or "domaine," meaning "power," and the word reached Middle English through Anglo-Norman as "demayne." English and French therefore share a common ancestor here, making the word a doublet of "domain," which came into English by a separate route. The modern spelling carries a silent detour. The "s" in "demesne" has no etymological basis; it was added partly under the influence of "mesne," a legal term, and partly to signal a long vowel, since the "s" had gone silent before a consonant. English speakers did the same thing in "aisle" and "isle," and in the place name "Carlisle."