mesne
Mesne (pronounced as “meen” or “mean”) is an Anglo-French term meaning intermediate or intervening. Historically, the term was used in feudal law to describe a middle person, or interest positioned between two others in a hierarchy.
The term appears in several legal phrases. A mesne lord was a feudal landlord who held land from a superior landlord while having subordinate tenants. Mesne process refers to the legal process issued during the course of a lawsuit between its commencement and final judgment. Mesne profits are profits derived from land while it is in another person’s wrongful possession. Today, the term is rarely used in modern legal writing except in the phrase mesne profits.
[Last reviewed in April of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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