meyne

German

Pronoun

meyne

1. Obsolete spelling of meine.

Determiner

meyne

1. Obsolete spelling of meine.

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman meine, meignee and Old French mesne, from Vulgar Latin *mānsiōnāta. Compare mansioun.

Alternative forms

• maine, mainie, maygny, mayne, maynee, meine, meneȝe, meneyhe, menȝe, menȝhe, menie, meny, menyeie, meynee, meynȝe, meyny, meynye

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mæi̯ˈneː/, /ˈmæi̯neː/, /ˈmɛːneː/

Noun

meyne (plural meynes)

1. A household (family establishment)
2. A band (group of people):
   1. An army or troop; a group of armed men.
      • c. 1375, “Book VI”, in Iohne Barbour, De geſtis bellis et uirtutibus domini Roberti de Brwyß […] (The Brus, Advocates MS. 19.2.2)‎, Ouchtirmunſye: Iohannes Ramſay, published 1489, folio 21, recto, lines 435-437; republished at Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, c. 2010:

        Dowglas h[is] menȝe faſt gan chaß, / And þe flearis þ[air] wayis tays / Till þe caſtell in full gꝛet hy […]

        Douglas's host starts moving fast / while the escapees cut a path / to the castle with incredible haste […]

   2. A retinue; a band of attendants.
      • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Manciples Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio xcix, recto, column 2:

        That for the tyraunt is of greater might / By force of meyne, to ſlee downe right / And brenne houſe & home, & make al playn, / Lo therfore is he called a capitayne / And for the outlawe hath but ſmal meyne

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   3. A crowd (large, disordered group)
3. A family; a kin group.
4. A set of chess pieces.

Related terms

• meyneal

Descendants

• English: meinie (archaic)
• Scots: menyie, menzie
• Yola: meany

References

• “meinẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Determiner

meyne (subjective pronoun I)

1. Alternative form of min

Pronoun

meyne (subjective I)

1. Alternative form of min

Etymology 3

Noun

meyne

1. Alternative form of mayn