Mesne
Mesne , adjective
[Compare Mean intermediate.]
(Law) Middle; intervening; as, a mesne lord, that is, a lord who holds land of a superior, but grants a part of it to another person, in which case he is a tenant to the superior, but lord or superior to the second grantee, and hence is called the mesne lord.
Collocations (1)
Mesne process , intermediate process; process intervening between the beginning and end of a suit, sometimes understood to be the whole process preceding the execution. — Blackstone