Greathouse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large, stately residence that serves as the principal house of an estate, often a plantation or country property
2. The main mansion on a landed estate, typically an imposing building that housed the owning family
3. An imposing country residence, especially the principal dwelling of a wealthy landowner or plantation holder

Etymology: "Greathouse" is a compound of "great" and "house," and its interest lies less in mysterious origins than in how a plain phrase came to name a particular kind of building. Both elements are old English words: "great" comes from Old English "great," meaning thick, large or coarse, and "house" from Old English "hus." Put together, the phrase originally meant simply a large house, the way any big building could be called a great house in medieval and early modern writing. Over time the phrase narrowed. In Ireland and parts of Scotland, "great house" came to denote the principal residence of a landed family, the mansion that stood at the centre of an estate and symbolised the gentry's wealth and power. Irish literature and history use the term heavily, especially for the country houses of the Protestant Ascendancy, and it often carries the weight of social hierarchy and, in later decades, decline. Because the term is a transparent compound, its dates are hard to pin down precisely, and the specific sense of a country seat is best understood as a regional and historical usage rather than a technical coinage.

Synonyms: mansion, manor, stately home, hall, palace