mess
English
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editPerhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals".
Noun
editmess (countable and uncountable, plural messes)
- A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding.
- 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:
- No, look, I know that the place looks like a bit of a mess but it's actually a very delicate ecosystem. Everything is connected. It's like the rainforest. You change one thing, even the tiniest bit, and the whooole rainforest dies. You don't want the rainforest to die, do ya?
- Synonyms: disorder; see also Thesaurus:disorder
- He made a mess of it.
- My bedroom is such a mess; I need to tidy up.
- 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:
- (colloquial) A large quantity or number.
- My boss dumped a whole mess of projects on my desk today.
- She brought back a mess of fish to fix for supper.
- (euphemistic) Excrement.
- There was dog mess all along the street.
- Parked under a tree, my car was soon covered in birds' mess.
- (figuratively) A person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck.
- Between the pain and the depression, I'm a mess.
- He's been a mess and a half ever since you excommunicated him.
Translations
edit
|
Verb
editmess (third-person singular simple present messes, present participle messing, simple past and past participle messed)
- (transitive, often used with "up") To make untidy or dirty.
- To make soiled by defecating.
- 2000 March 12, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):
- It seems like all you do is cry, eat, and mess your diapers!
- To make soiled by ejaculating.
- To make soiled by defecating.
- (transitive, often used with "up") To throw into disorder or to ruin.
- 1905, Arthur Colton, The Belted Seas[1], page 76:
- But it wasn't right to be messing another man's sleep with tidal waves that didn't belong to the other man.
- (intransitive) To interfere.
- This doesn't concern you. Don't mess.
Translations
editDerived terms
editEtymology 2
editFrom Middle English mes, partly from Old English mēse, mēose (“table”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”); and partly from Old French mes, Late Latin missum, from mittō (“to put, place (e.g. on the table)”). See mission, and compare Mass (“religious service”).
Noun
editmess (plural messes)
- (obsolete) Mass; a church service.
- (archaic) A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time.
- c. 1555, Hugh Latimer, letter to one in prison for the profession of the Gospel
- a mess of pottage
- a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
- At their savoury dinner set / Of herbs and other country messes.
- 1903, Henry Yule, Arthur Burnell, Hobson-Jobson:
- [Curry] consists of meat, fish, fruit, or vegetables, cooked with a quantity of bruised spices and turmeric […] ; and a little of this gives a flavour to a large mess of rice.
- c. 1555, Hugh Latimer, letter to one in prison for the profession of the Gospel
- (collective) A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table.
- the wardroom mess
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 291:
- But that our Feaſts / In euery Meſſe, haue folly; and the Feeders / Digeſt with a Cuſtome,
- A building or room in which mess is eaten.
- 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 20:
- The police mess had formerly been a maternity home for the wives of the Sultans of the state. Faded and tatty, peeling, floorboards eaten and unpolished, its philoprogenitive glory was a memory only.
- A set of four (from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner).
- (US) The milk given by a cow at one milking.
- (collective) A group of iguanas.
- Synonym: slaughter
- (cooking) A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool.
- 1913, Pearson's Magazine, volume 36, part 2, page 373:
- Eton is renowned for its "messes," and "strawberry mess" is Empress of them all, with raspberry mess as a very good second. It does not at all convey the joys of a "mess" to say that it consists of iced fruit and cream, and somewhat resembles a "fool." It is a thing apart, and should be approached with bated breath and unimpaired capacity.
- 1916, Edward Frederic Benson, David Blaize, page 284:
- "I'll stand you both strawberry mess." It was perfectly impossible for David not to feel elated at sitting down to strawberry-mess with two members of the eleven, in the full light of day, and in sight of the school generally […]
- 2014, Lindsey Bareham, Just One Pot:
- Eton mess, for example, which is another name for strawberry fool, links the name of a famous public school with disorder or the army slang for a meal, [...] One friend remembered a banana mess of mashed banana with two scoops of ice cream and loads of cream, and thought the strawberry version something that might be served at the 4th June College picnic, [...]
- 2015, Darra Goldstein, Sidney Mintz, Michael Krondl, Laura Mason, The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, Oxford University Press, USA, →ISBN, page 243:
- Similar desserts [to Eton Mess] include Lancing Mess (made with bananas), served at Lancing College in Sussex, and Clare College Mush […]
- 2020, Nigel Napier-Andrews, Gentleman's Portion: The Cookbook:
- One Old Etonian rages that at school the dessert was simply called 'strawberry mess' and was very popular in the tuck shop. It is only outside Eton that the school's name has been added. A similar 'banana mess' is credited to School in Sussex, […]
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- → Portuguese: messe
Translations
editFurther reading
edit- Mess (military) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Verb
editmess (third-person singular simple present messes, present participle messing, simple past and past participle messed)
- (intransitive) To take meals with a mess.
- (intransitive) To belong to a mess.
- (intransitive) To eat (with others).
- 1836, George Simpson & al., HBC Standing Rules and Regulations, §18:
- Resolved 18. That no Guide or Interpreter whether at the Factory Depot or Inland be permitted to mess with Commissioned Gentlemen or Clerks in charge of Posts; but while at the Depot they will be allowed per Week 4 days ordinary rations...
- I mess with the wardroom officers.
- 1836, George Simpson & al., HBC Standing Rules and Regulations, §18:
- (transitive) To supply with a mess.
Further reading
edit- Mess (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
edit- “mess”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
editHungarian
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editVerb
editmess
Maltese
editRoot |
---|
m-s-s |
3 terms |
Etymology
editPronunciation
editVerb
editmess (imperfect jmiss, past participle mimsus)
- to touch
- 2022, Nadia Mifsud, meta tinfetaq il-folla, Ede Books, →ISBN:
- f’żarbun ġa ssikkat. irkiekel dahri
tat-terrakotta - ’kk tmisshom,
isiru frak. dil-belt tentakli waħedha -
għoddha qalftitni fatat.- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (figurative) to touch, to affect
Conjugation
editConjugation of mess | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | |||||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
perfect | m | messejt | messejt | mess | messejna | messejtu | messew | |
f | messet | |||||||
imperfect | m | mmiss | tmiss | jmiss | mmissu | tmissu | jmissu | |
f | tmiss | |||||||
imperative | miss | missu |
Manx
editEtymology
editFrom Old Irish mess (“nuts”), from Proto-Celtic *messus (“acorn”). Cognate with Irish meas (“fruit, mast”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmess m (genitive singular mess, plural messyn)
Derived terms
editMutation
editManx mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
mess | vess | unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Norwegian Bokmål
editVerb
editmess
- imperative of messe
Old Irish
editAlternative forms
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editFrom Proto-Celtic *messus (“judgement”), from Proto-Indo-European *med-.
Noun
editmess m (genitive messa, nominative plural mesai)
- verbal noun of midithir
- judgment
- c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 55d11
- Amal du·berad nech hi ceist do Dauid: “Húare is móir sléb fírinne Dǽ, cid ara fodmai-siu, ⟨a⟩ Dauid, didiu a ndu imnedaib ⁊ frithoircnib fo·daimi? Air it fírían-⟨s⟩u.” Ícaid-som didiu anísin, a n‑as·mbeir iudicia Domini abisus multa .i. ataat mesai Dǽ nephchomtetarrachti amal abis ⁊ amal fudumain. Is ed in sin fod·era in n‑erígim, cid ara fodaim int aís fírían inna fochaidi, ⁊ cid ara mbiat in pecthaig isnaib soinmechaib.
- As though someone had put as a question to David: “Because God’s righteousness is as great as a mountain, why then, David, dost thou suffer what of afflictions and injuries thou sufferest? For thou art righteous.” He solves that then when he says “iudicia Domini abyssus multa”, i.e. there are judgments of God incomprehensible like an abyss and like a depth. That is what causes the complaint why the righteous folk endure tribulations, and why sinners are in prosperity.
- c. 850, Carlsruhe Glosses on St Augustine’s Soliloquia, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. 2, pp. 1–9, Acr. 1a4
- In mess du·choaid for diabul is hǽ rigas forru.
- The judgment that has gone upon the Devil is that which will go upon them.
- c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 55d11
Declension
editMasculine u-stem | |||
---|---|---|---|
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
Nominative | mess | messL | messaeH, mesai |
Vocative | mess | messL | messu |
Accusative | messN | messL | messu |
Genitive | messoH, messaH | messoL, messaL | messaeN |
Dative | messL | messaib | messaib |
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
|
Derived terms
editDescendants
editFurther reading
edit- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 mes(s)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Etymology 2
editFrom Proto-Celtic *messus (“acorn”).
Noun
editmess m (genitive messa)
Descendants
editFurther reading
edit- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 mes(s)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Mutation
editOld Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
mess also mmess after a proclitic ending in a vowel |
mess pronounced with / |
unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Swedish
editEtymology
editNoun
editmess n
- (colloquial) text message
- Synonym: sms
Declension
editDeclension of mess | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | mess | messet | mess | messen |
Genitive | mess | messets | mess | messens |
Derived terms
editReferences
editVilamovian
editEtymology
editFrom Middle High German messinc, from Proto-Germanic *masjinga-, of uncertain ultimate origin. Perhaps derived from Ancient Greek Μοσσύνοικοι (Mossúnoikoi, “Mossynoeci”), the name of an ancient people connected with metallurgy; or alternatively from Latin massa (“lump (of metal)”).
Noun
editmess n
Related terms
edit- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/ɛs
- Rhymes:English/ɛs/1 syllable
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- American English
- en:Cooking
- English transitive verbs
- en:Rooms
- Hungarian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Hungarian/ɛʃː
- Rhymes:Hungarian/ɛʃː/1 syllable
- Hungarian non-lemma forms
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- Maltese terms belonging to the root m-s-s
- Maltese terms inherited from Arabic
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- Manx terms with IPA pronunciation
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- gv:Botany
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- Norwegian Bokmål non-lemma forms
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- sga:Nuts
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