Lieu qui porte un nom particulier indépendant de celui de la commune à laquelle il appartient

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 minutes (2007-05-09 13:36:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

place-name

X, called Y

other possibility

lieu dit -
lieu = place
dit = dire
place said to be at...

Following Emma's comment I had a quick look at the paperwork from my house purchase and came up with this - although indirectly.

If you need a translation of deeds, this is what is meant, although a legal bod might give you a "proper" translation. Neither the house I've bought, nor the one I've sold, has "lieu-dit" as the actual part of the postal address. As I said, it designates the precise location of the plot in the street. For "lieu dit" as part of a postal address I would have said "hamlet" or whatever...

I know just what you mean, it always appears in this rather awkward way, and it can indeed mean sometimes just the name of the house, or the hamlet, or even tiny village. I live in the lieudit known as 'le moulin de la Barre', and so do my neighbours down the lane.

Although 'locality' possibly suggests a wider area in EN contexts, I think it often works OK here too, where the rest of the address pins it down a bit more.

You may also at times simply consider that it has no translation value as such, though in such case, I usually put the name of the lieudit in quotes, to try and indicate it has something of the rôle of a proper name, just as in EN we might for the name of a house:

'The Grange', Middlecombe Lane, ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 57 mins (2007-05-09 14:25:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The term is often encountered when describing a property (quite often rural) that cannot be clearly identified with anything like a street number or name.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-05-09 14:28:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To Cristina:

Yes, as Martin said, the word has taken on a whole new meaning of its own in FR. Do note, too, that 'dit' is often used in a way that would in EN be 'known as', as in 'le roi Philippe, dit Bon' > 'King Philip, known as Philip the Fair'

Another suggestion. Many addresses in English legal documents contain this term, e.g. "the land situated approximately 600 yards to the east of the property known as 76 High Street, and edged in red on the plan attached to the conveyance dated 12th January 1896"
As Tony M correctly says, the term is often encountered when describing a property that cannot be clearly identified with a street number or name.

another try at smthg that's seems to be a big deal for such a tiny place

Collins: 2) locality separated by geographical attributes.
I feel that this is a word that can often work as many lieux-dits are named after a particularity of the area.