late 13c., "mansion, habitation, country residence, principal house of an estate," from Anglo-French maner, Old French manoir "abode, home, dwelling place; manor" (12c.), noun use of maneir "to dwell," from Latin manere "to stay, abide," from PIE root *men- "to remain" (see mansion). As a unit of territorial division in Britain and some American colonies (usually "land held in demesne by a lord, with tenants") it is attested from 1530s.