Definition of: manor

(man′ər) noun
1. Brit. A nobleman's or gentleman's landed estate.
2. In old English law, a tract or district of land granted by the king to one as lord, with authority to exercise jurisdiction over it by a court–baron.
3. In Anglo–Saxon times, a thane's or lord's estate, composed of the land and of a part of the agricultural capital employed to till it, as well as the laborers, beasts, implements, etc., and having on it a community of serfs or villeins; later, an estate complying with the minimum requirements entitling the lord of the manor to hold a court–baron.
4. U.S. A tract of land originally granted as a manor and let by the proprietor to tenants in perpetuity or for a long term. See synonyms under HOUSE. ♦ Homophone: manner. [<OF manoir a dwelling, orig. a verb <L manere remain]
—ma·no·ri·al (mə·nôr′ē·əl, -nō′rē-) adjective