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Origin and history of mass

mass(n.1)

late 14c., "irregular shaped lump; body of unshaped, coherent matter," from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley cake, lump, mass, ball," which is related to massein "to knead" (from PIE root *mag- "to knead, fashion, fit").

The sense in English was extended 1580s to "a large quantity, amount, or number." The meaning "bulk" in general is from c. 1600. As "the 'bulk' or greater part of anything" from 1620s. The strict sense in physics, "quantity of a portion of matter expressed in pounds or grams" is from 1704.

As an adjective, "of, involving, or composed of masses of people; done on a large scale," from 1733, first attested in American English mass meeting "public assembly persons in mass or of all classes to consider or listen to the discussion of some matter of common interest." Mass murder is attested from 1880; mass movement from 1897. Mass hysteria is attested from 1914 (the notion is older); mass culture is from 1916 in sociology (earlier in biology); mass grave is from 1918. Mass transit is by 1959, originally of Washington D.C.'s transit system.

also from late 14c.

mass(n.2)

"eucharistic service," Middle English messe, masse, from Old English mæsse, from Vulgar Latin *messa "eucharistic service," literally "dismissal," from Late Latin missa "dismissal," fem. past participle of mittere "to let go, send" (see mission).

Probably so called from the concluding words of the service, Ite, missa est, "Go, (the prayer) has been sent," or "Go, it is the dismissal." The Latin word sometimes was glossed in Old English as sendnes "send-ness." Meaning "musical setting of certain parts of the Catholic (or Anglican) liturgy" is by 1590s.

mass(v.)

late 14c., transitive, "to form into a mass" (implied in y-maced), from mass (n.1) or from French masser. Intransitive sense of "to gather in a mass, collect in masses" is by 1560s. Related: Massed; massing.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to mass

mission(n.)

1590s, "a sending abroad" (as an agent), originally of Jesuits, from Latin missionem (nominative missio) "act of sending, a dispatching; a release, a setting at liberty; discharge from service, dismissal," noun of action from past-participle stem of mittere "to release, let go; send, throw," which de Vaan traces to a PIE *m(e)ith- "to exchange, remove," also source of Sanskrit methete, mimetha "to become hostile, quarrel," Gothic in-maidjan "to change;" he writes, "From original 'exchange', the meaning developed to 'give, bestow' ... and 'let go, send'."

Meaning "an organized effort for the spread of religion or for enlightenment of a community" is by 1640s; that of "a missionary post or station" is by 1769. The diplomatic sense of "body of persons sent to a foreign land on commercial or political business" is from 1620s; in American English, sometimes "a foreign legation or embassy, the office of a foreign envoy" (1805).

General sense of "that for which one is sent or commissioned" is from 1670s; meaning "that for which a person or thing is destined" (as in man on a mission, one's mission in life) is by 1805. Meaning "dispatch of an aircraft on a military operation" (by 1929, American English) was extended to spacecraft flights (1962), hence, mission control "team on the ground responsible for directing a spacecraft and its crew" (1964). As a style of furniture, said to be imitative of furniture in the buildings of original Spanish missions to western North America, it is attested from 1900.

biomass(n.)

also bio-mass, "total weight of the organic substance or organisms in a given area," by 1969, from bio- + mass (n.1).