mansion

A Victorian mansion in Eureka, CA.

English

Alternative forms

• mansioun (obsolete)

Etymology

Anglo-Norman, from Latin mansiō (“dwelling, stopping-place”), from the past participle stem of manēre (“stay”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmæn(t)ʃən/

Noun

mansion (plural mansions)

1. ​A large house or building, usually built for the wealthy.
2. (UK) A luxurious flat (apartment).
3. (obsolete) A house provided for a clergyman; a manse.
4. (obsolete) A stopping-place during a journey; a stage.
5. (historical) An astrological house; a station of the moon.
   • Late 14th century: Which book spak muchel of the operaciouns / Touchynge the eighte and twenty mansiouns / That longen to the moone — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, Canterbury Tales
6. (Chinese astronomy) One of twenty-eight sections of the sky.
7. (chiefly in the plural) An individual habitation or apartment within a large house or group of buildings. (Now chiefly in allusion to John 14:2.)
   • 1611, Bible, Authorized (King James) Version, John XIV.2:

     In my Father's house are many mansions [transl. μοναὶ]: if it were not so, I would have told you.

   • 2003, The Economist, (subtitle), 18 Dec 2003:

     The many mansions in one east London house of God.

8. Any of the branches of the Rastafari movement.

Derived terms

• mansion house
• mansion place
• mansionette
• mansionry

Related terms

• manor
• manse

Translations

large house or building

• Ancient Greek: στέγος (stegos) n
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: brgmmi m

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大廈 (cmn), 大厦 (cmn) (dàshà), (formal) 宅第 (cmn) (zháidì), (archaic; of a rich person or important official) 公館 (cmn), 公馆 (cmn) (gōngguǎn)

• Finnish: kartano (fi), linna (fi)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Herrenhaus (de) n
• Hebrew: ארמון (he), טירה (he), מעון (he)
• Japanese: 大邸宅 (ja) (だいていたく, daiteitaku), 豪邸 (ja) (ごうてい, gōtei)

• Malay: rumah agam (ms)
• Persian: کوشک (fa) (kušk)
• Portuguese: solar (pt) m, mansão (pt) f
• Romanian: palat (ro) n, conac (ro) n, curte (ro) f
• Russian: особняк (ru) (osobnják) m, многоквартирный дом (ru) (mnogokvartírnyj dom) m, (colloquial) хоромы (ru) (xorómy) pl, (colloquial) дворец (ru) (dvoréc) m
• Scottish Gaelic: taigh-mòr m
• Serbo-Croatian: ljetnikovac (sh) m
• Spanish: mansión (es) f, palacete (es) m
• Swahili: jumba (sw), jumba (sw)
• Turkish: saray (tr)
• Volapük: kased

Descendants

• Japanese: マンション (manshon) (borrowed)

Anagrams

• amnions, Minoans, onanism