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.
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.
© Webster 1913.