mesne lord

Etymology
Distinguishing the nature of the lord as intermediate (, "middle"), particularly as opposed to lords paramount and tenants-in-chief.

Noun

 * 1)  A lord entitled to rent or feudal obligations from tenants but who himself owes rent or feudal obligations to another.

Usage notes
Although Blackstone and others considered any intermediate lord to be a mesne lord, others distinguish the mesne lords as the product of subinfeudation and exclude from the term the tenants-in-chief who held their estates directly from the king.

Translations

 * Irish: meántiarna