manor

manor — noun

1. a big country house built many years ago, whose property includes gardens, field

1.nounB2
Definition

a big country house built many years ago, whose property includes gardens, fields, and the farmland that surrounds it

Example

Élise's family has owned the manor in the Loire Valley since the 1870s.

collocation: own a manor

The old manor was surrounded by tall trees and wide fields of wheat.

passive: be surrounded by

Common collocations
  • country manor
  • manor house
  • stately manor
  • ancestral manor
  • manor estate
  • manor grounds
Synonyms
  • estate

    emphasises the land and property as a single unit rather than the house itself

  • mansion

    a large impressive house, but without the implication of surrounding land or farmland

  • country house

    more general term for any large house in the countryside, not necessarily with estate land

  • hall

    often used in the names of country houses in Britain (e.g. Broughton Hall)

Grammar Patterns

the + manor + of + place

Usage Note

Often used in the names of specific historic houses, e.g. Haddon Manor. In British English, the phrase 'the manor' can refer to the house and all the land, buildings, and farming rights that go with it.

Common Mistakes

The rich man lived in a huge manor in the city centre.
The rich man lived in a huge mansion in the city centre.
A manor is a country house with land; a mansion is any large, impressive house, often in a city.

2. the area or district where a person, especially a police officer, regularly work

2.nounC1
Definition

the area or district where a person, especially a police officer, regularly works and is responsible for

Example

Detective Ryan knew every street, shop, and resident in his manor.

collocation: in (someone's) manor

The sergeant told the new officer to keep watch over her manor during the night shift.

collocation: keep watch over (one's) manor

Common collocations
  • in (one's) manor
  • on (one's) manor
  • patrol (one's) manor
  • my manor
  • someone's manor
Synonyms
  • patch

    more common synonym in British police slang, 'someone's patch'

  • beat

    the regular route a police officer walks or drives; the most standard term

  • territory

    more general; used outside policing (business, animals, gangs)

  • turf

    informal, often with a sense of ownership or rivalry

Grammar Patterns

possessive + manor

Usage Note

Chiefly British informal slang. Most commonly used by or about police officers. 'My manor' or 'your manor' functions almost like a fixed phrase for the area someone patrols or is in charge of.

Common Mistakes

The nurse had a large manor of patients on the fourth floor.
The nurse was responsible for a large group of patients on the fourth floor.
'Manor' in this sense is almost exclusively used for geographic areas, not people, and is strongly associated with police work.

Word family

  • manorial
    adjectiveC2
  • manor house
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to large houses, but they differ in key ways. A 'manor' is a country house with land, farms, and buildings forming a self-contained estate — it is the most specific term for a historic rural property. A 'mansion' is simply any very large, impressive house, and it can be in a city or the country; land is not part of the meaning. An 'estate' emphasises the land, farms, and property as a single asset, and the house itself may or may not be grand. 'Country house' is the most general British term for a large rural home, often historic but without the legal or feudal history that 'manor' suggests. 'Hall' is often used in the names of specific English country houses (e.g. Chatsworth Hall). Example: 'The manor's roof needed repairs, but the surrounding estate still produced wheat.'

mansion ↗estate ↗country househall ↗

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'manor' entered Middle English from Old French 'manoir', meaning 'dwelling place' or 'home'. The French word came from Latin 'manēre', which means 'to stay' or 'to remain'. In medieval Europe, a manor was the basic unit of a lord's estate, where the lord and his tenants lived and worked the land together. Over time, the legal and feudal meaning faded, and the word came to describe any large country house with its surrounding land. The modern informal sense — a police officer's area of duty — developed in British slang in the 20th century and extends the idea of 'territory' that the original feudal manor also carried.