Manse

//mæns// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A house inhabited by the minister of a parish.

    "He has caught a glint of steel in the manse gateway, but it is only the minister's bicycle still chained to the trunk of a monkeypuzzle tree as a precaution against unchristian covetousness."

  2. 2
    the residence of a clergyman (especially a Presbyterian clergyman) wordnet
  3. 3
    A family dwelling, an owner-occupied house. archaic
  4. 4
    a large and imposing house wordnet
  5. 5
    A large house, a mansion.
Verb
  1. 1
    To excommunicate; curse. transitive

Example

More examples

"I am invited to tea at the manse tomorrow afternoon!"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English mansien, apheretic variant of amansien, from Old English āmǣnsumian (“to excommunicate”). More at amanse.

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin mansus (“dwelling”), from Latin manere (“to remain”), whence also manor, mansion. Doublet of mas.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.