from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Mesne \Mesne\, a. [Cf. {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.
[1913 Webster]
{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. --Burrill.
{Mesne profits}, profits of premises during the time the
owner has been wrongfully kept out of the possession of
his estate. --Burrill.
[1913 Webster] Meso
from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
MESNE. The middle between two extremes, that part between the commencement
and the end, as it relates to time.
2. Hence the profits which a man receives between disseisin and
recovery of lands are called mesne profits. (q.v.) Process which is issued
in a suit between the original and final process, is called mesne process.
(q.v.)
3. In England, the word mesne also applies to a dignity: those persons
who hold lordships or manors of some superior who is called lord paramount,
and grant the same to inferior persons, are called mesne lords.