manse

IPA/mæns/
IPA/mæns/

manse — noun

  • mansesingular
  • mansesplural

1. a home where a Christian minister lives, owned by the church and given for free

1.nounC2
Definition

a home where a Christian minister lives, owned by the church and given for free use while the minister serves that congregation; especially common in Scotland and Presbyterian traditions.

Example

Ryan grew up in a draughty stone manse just outside the village of Crieff.

noun phrase: a stone/old/Victorian manse

The church council voted to repair the roof of the manse before winter arrived.

collocation: roof / kitchen / garden of the manse

Common collocations
  • old stone manse
  • the manse garden
  • live in the manse
  • minister of the manse
Synonyms
  • vicarage

    Church of England equivalent; for an Anglican vicar's house

  • rectory

    house of a rector, usually Anglican or Catholic

  • parsonage

    general term for a clergy house, common in American English

Grammar Patterns

the manse at/in [place]

Usage Note

Refers specifically to a Christian (often Presbyterian) minister's church-owned home, not just any clergy housing — the equivalent term in the Church of England is 'vicarage' or 'rectory'.

Common Mistakes

The imam lives in a manse near the mosque.
The imam lives in a house near the mosque.
'manse' is reserved for a Christian (especially Presbyterian) minister's house.

2. a big, grand-looking private home set on its own grounds, the kind that makes vi

2.nounC2
Definition

a big, grand-looking private home set on its own grounds, the kind that makes visitors stop and stare; used to picture wealth and impressive scale rather than ordinary family housing.

Example

The tech founder bought a hilltop manse with twelve bedrooms and a private vineyard.

collocation: hilltop / countryside / suburban manse

Photos of the singer's California manse spread across every gossip site within hours.

noun phrase: [place-name] manse

Common collocations
  • a sprawling manse
  • country manse
  • the family manse
  • hilltop manse
Synonyms
  • mansion

    most common everyday word for a large grand house

  • estate

    emphasises the land as well as the building

  • residence

    neutral formal word; lacks the 'grand' implication of manse

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a [adjective] manse

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense carries no religious meaning and is used by journalists, novelists, and real-estate listings to evoke a grand private estate. Subject is typically a wealthy individual or famous family.

Common Mistakes

They bought a small manse in the city centre.
They bought a small townhouse in the city centre.
'manse' implies grand scale and grounds; a small city house does not fit.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a house provided by a church for its clergy, but they differ by denomination and region. 'Manse' is overwhelmingly Scottish and Presbyterian — a Church of Scotland minister lives in the manse. 'Vicarage' belongs to the Church of England, the home of a parish vicar; 'rectory' is also Anglican (or sometimes Roman Catholic), housing a rector who has fuller rights over the parish income. 'Parsonage' is the most general label, common in American English, covering any Protestant minister's house. So a learner reading a British novel will see manse in Scotland, vicarage in an English village, rectory in an older Anglican parish, and parsonage in an American town.

manse ↗vicarage ↗rectoryparsonage ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • manse garden
  • manse kitchen
  • manse roof
  • country manse

Phrases

  • live in the manse
  • grew up in a manse
  • the family manse

Prepositions

  • at the manse
  • in the manse
  • to the manse

Etymology

LatinMedieval LatinScottish EnglishEnglish

From Medieval Latin 'mansus' or 'mansa', meaning a dwelling-house and the piece of land attached to it, from Latin 'manere' meaning 'to stay' or 'to remain'. The word entered Scottish English in the 1400s and became fixed to the church-owned home of a minister after the Reformation, when Presbyterian congregations began providing housing for their clergy.