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: /ˈmænʃən/

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 C14: 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. Any of the branches of the Rastafari movement (after John 14:2, "In my Father's house are many mansions").

Derived terms

• mansion house
• mansion place
• manshionette
• manshionry

Related terms

• manor
• manse

Translations

large house or building

Ancient Greek: στέγος (stegos) n. 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) Croatian: ljetnikovac (hr) m. Finnish: kartano (fi), linna (fi) German: Herrenhaus (de) n. Hebrew: ארמון (he), טירה (he), מעון (he) Japanese: マンション (ja) (manshon)

Persian: کوشک (fa) (kušk) Portuguese: solar (pt) m., mansão (pt) 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. Spanish: mansión (es) f. Swahili: jumba (sw), jumba (sw) Turkish: saray (tr) Volapük: kased

Descendants

• Japanese: マンション (manshon)

Anagrams

• amnions
• Minoans
• onanism