mass

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also:Mass,maß,Maß,Mass.,andmåss

English

[edit]
A mass (aggregation) of frog eggs

Etymology 1

[edit]

In lateMiddle English(circa 1400) asmassein the sense of "lump, quantity of matter", fromAnglo-Normanmasse,inOld Frenchattested from the 11th century, via lateLatinmassa(“lump, dough”),fromAncient Greekμᾶζα(mâza,“barley-cake, lump (of dough)”).The Greek noun may be derived from the verbμάσσω(mássō,“to knead”),ultimately from aProto-Indo-European*maǵ-(“to oil, knead”),although this is uncertain.[1]Doubletofmasa. The sense of "a large number or quantity" arises circa 1580. The scientific sense is from 1687 (as Latinmassa) in the works ofIsaac Newton,with the first English use (asmass) occurring in 1704.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

mass(countableanduncountable,pluralmasses)

  1. (physical)Matter, material.
    1. Aquantityofmattercoheringtogether so as to make onebody,or anaggregationofparticlesor things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size.
      • 1718[1704],Isaac Newton,Opticks,2nd edition:
        And if it were not for theſe Principles the Bodies of the Earth, Planets, Comets, Sun, and all things in them would grow cold and freeze, and become inactiveMaſſes;[…].
      • 1821[1582],George Buchanan,The History of Scotland, from the Earliest Accounts of that Nation, to the Reign of King James VI,volume 1 (in English), translation ofRerum Scoticarum Historiaby an unnamed translator, page133:
        […]and because a deepmassof continual sea is slower stirred to rage.
    2. (obsolete)Preciousmetal,especiallygoldorsilver.
    3. (physics)A measure of theinertiaof a mass ofmatter,one of four fundamentalpropertiesofmatter.SIunit of mass:kilogram.
    4. (pharmacology)Amedicinalsubstancemade into acohesive,homogeneouslump, ofconsistencysuitable for making pills; as, blue mass.
    5. (medicine)Apalpableor visible abnormalglobularstructure; atumor.
    6. (bodybuilding)Excess body mass, especially in the form ofmusclehypertrophy.
      • 1988,Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, inIronman,volume47,number 6, pages28–34:
        After all, muscle maniacs go "ga ga" overmassno matter how it's presented.
  2. A largequantity;asum.
    • 1829,SirWalter Raleigh,The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt,volume VIII:
      […]he hath discovered to me the way to five or six of the richest mines which the Spaniard hath, and whence all themassof gold that comes into Spain in effect is drawn.
    • 1869,Alexander George Richey,Lectures on the History of Ireland: Down to A. D. 1534,page204:
      For though he had spent a hugemassof treasure in transporting his army,[…].
    1. Bulk;magnitude;body;size.
    2. Theprincipalpart; the main body.
      • 1881,Thucydides,translated byBenjamin Jowett,Thucydides translated into English,volume 1, page310:
        Night closed upon the pursuit, and aided themassof the fugitives in their escape.
    3. A large body of individuals, especially persons.
      • 1970,“War Pigs”,inParanoid,performed byBlack Sabbath:
        Generals gathered in theirmasses/ Just like witches at black masses
      Themassof spectators didn't see the infraction on the field.
      Amassof ships converged on the beaches of Dunkirk.
    4. (in theplural)The lower classes of persons.
      Themassesare revolting.
Coordinate terms
[edit]

(matter):

Derived terms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]
quantity of matter cohering together to make one body
physics: quantity of matter which a body contains
bodybuilding: excess body mass
large body of individuals
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
[edit]

Verb

[edit]

mass(third-person singular simple presentmasses,present participlemassing,simple past and past participlemassed)

  1. (transitive)Toformorcollectinto a mass; to form into acollectivebody;to bring together into masses; toassemble.
    • 1829,William Burke, John Macnee,Trial of William Burke and Helen M'Dougal: Before the High Court of Judiciary, William Hare:
      They would unavoidably mix up the whole of these declarations, andmassthem together, although the Judge might direct the Jury not to do so.
    • 1857,Edward Henry Nolan,The Illustrated History of the War against Russia,Parts 93-111,page432:
      Every bend on the hill had acted like a funnel tomassthem together in this peculiar way.
    • 1869,H. P. Robinson,Pictorial Effect in Photography: Being Hints on Composition and Chiariscuro for Photographers:
      Where there is too great a repetition of forms, light and shade will break them up ormassthem together.
  2. (intransitive)To assemble in a mass
Synonyms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

mass(not generallycomparable,comparativemasser,superlativemassest)

  1. Involving a mass of things; concerning a large quantity or number.
    There is evidence ofmassextinctions in the distant past.
    • 1988,V. V. Zagladin, Vitaly Baskakov,International Working Class and Communist Movement: Historical Record, 1830s to Mid-1940s‎[1],page236:
      The national liberation movement had not yet developed to a sufficientlymassscale.
    • 1989,Creighton Peden, Larry E. Axel (editors),God, Values, and Empiricism: Issues in Philosophical Theology‎[2],page 2:
      With perhaps unprecedented magnitude and clarity, Auschwitz brings theologians and philosophers face to face with the facts of suffering on an incrediblymassscale, with issues poignantly raised concerning the absence of divine intervention or the inadequacies of divine power or benevolence;[…].
    • 2010,John Horne,A Companion to World War I‎[3],page159:
      The air arms did more than provide the warring nations with individual heroes, for their individual exploits occurred within the context of an increasinglymassaerial effort in a war of the masses.
  2. Involving a mass of people; of, for, or by the masses.
    Massunemployment resulted from the financial collapse.
    • 1958,Child Welfare,volume37,page 2:
      Every agency is sold on use ofmassmedia today — or at least, it thinks it is — and what can be "masser"than television?
    • 1970,James Wilson White,The Sōkagakkai and Mass Society‎[4],page 3:
      While agreeing with Bell on the unlikelihood that any fullymass— in the sense of atomized and alienated — society has ever existed,5I believe that at any point in time, in any social system, some elements may be characterized as "masses."
    • 1974,Edward Abraham Cohn,The Political Economy of Environmental Enhancement,page91:
      Undoubtedly this is the case; at least it is "masser"than in Pinchot's time.
    • 1999December, Sara Miles, “Rebel with a Cause”, inOut‎[5],page132:
      But it also highlights the changes that have taken place in gay and AIDS activism, and the way that a formerlymassmovement has been recast.
    • 2000November 21, Howie Klein, “Queer as role models”, inThe Advocate,number825,page 9:
      The director didn't make the images up; they're there, but in putting that one slice of gay life into themassestofmassmedia — the amoral promiscuity, the drug and alcohol abuse, the stereotyped flamboyance and campiness, the bitchy queeniness and flimsy values — something very dangerous happens[…]
    • 2001,Brian Moeran,Asian Media Productions,page13:
      […]if only because it promises the ‘massest’ ofmassmarkets.
    • 2004,John R. Hall,Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History‎[6],page79:
      Finally, in the past century, secular culture itself has undergone a transition from predominantly folk styles to an overwhelminglymassculture,[…].
    • 2007,Thomas Peele,Queer popular culture: literature, media, film, and television,page11:
      As a right, we come to expect it, and that happens through themassmedia, themassestof which, by far, is television.
Derived terms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Beekes, Etymological dictionary of Greek

Etymology 2

[edit]
A user suggests that this English entry be moved, merged or split.
Please see the discussion onRequests for moves, mergers and splits(+)or thetalk pagefor more information and remove this template after the request has been fulfilled.

A priest celebrating mass (the Mass)

FromMiddle Englishmesse,masse,fromOld Englishmæsse(“the mass, church festival”)andOld Frenchmesse,fromVulgar Latin*messa(“Eucharist, dismissal”),fromLate Latinmissa,noun use of feminine past participle of classicalLatinmittere(“to send”),fromite,missaest(“go, (the assembly) is dismissed”),reanalyzed as "go, [that] is themissa",last words of theRoman Riteof theCatholic Church.
CompareDutchmis(“mass”),GermanMesse(“mass”),Danishmesse(“mass”),Swedishmässa(“mass; expo”),Icelandicmessa(“mass”).More atmission.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

mass(pluralmasses)

  1. (Christianity)TheEucharist,now especially inRoman Catholicism.
  2. (Christianity)Celebration of theEucharist.
  3. (Christianity,usually astheMass)Thesacramentof theEucharist.
  4. Amusicalsettingof parts of the mass.
Derived terms
[edit]
Translations
[edit]

Verb

[edit]

mass(third-person singular simple presentmasses,present participlemassing,simple past and past participlemassed)

  1. (intransitive,obsolete)Tocelebratemass.
Translations
[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]

Swedish

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

massc

  1. (Smålanddialect)Pronunciation spellingofmars(“March”).
    Fössta tossdan imass.
    Fi'st Thu'sday inMa'ch.

Võro

[edit]

Etymology 1

[edit]

FromProto-Finnic*maksa,fromProto-Uralic*mëksa.

Noun

[edit]

mass(genitivemassa,partitivemassa)

  1. liver
Inflection
[edit]

This noun needs aninflection-table template.

Etymology 2

[edit]

FromProto-Finnic*maksu.Related toEstonianmaks.

Noun

[edit]

mass(genitivemassu,partitivemassu)

  1. tax,payment
Inflection
[edit]

This noun needs aninflection-table template.

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=mass&oldid=81048227"