Etymology: < post-classical Latin missa ‘dismissal, prayer at the conclusion of a liturgy, liturgy, mass’, use as noun of feminine of classical Latin missus , past participle of mittere to release, dismiss (see mission n.), perhaps reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French messe (c1080). The Latin form drawn on by Old English was one with vulgar Latin lowering of classical Latin ĭ, reflected also in such Romance forms as Old French, Middle French, French messe, Old Occitan mesa (13th cent.), and Italian messa (13th cent.); Spanish misa (1207) and Portuguese missa (13th cent.) are perhaps influenced by the written Latin form. The English stem vowel (Old English æ (alongside sporadic forms in e in all dialects), giving rise to Middle English, modern English a) is unparalleled. Possibly post-classical Latin *messa was first adopted into an Old English dialect (perhaps Kentish) in which the inherited æ of other dialects was regularly fronted to e, and when the word passed to other dialects, its e was analogically ‘corrected’ to æ (compare A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §208). Compare Old Frisian misse, Middle Dutch misse, messe, mis (Dutch mis), Old Saxon missa (Middle Low German misse), Old High German missa, messa (Middle High German misse, messe, German Messe), Old Icelandic messa, Swedish mässa, Danish messe.The post-classical Latin word occurs with the sense ‘dismissal’ in secular and religious contexts in the late 4th and early 5th centuries (referring e.g. to dismissal from law courts, relief of a sentry, dismissal after a liturgical office, and denoting any of various religious services). The specifically liturgical senses, which are also recorded from this period (their chronological sequence is uncertain), are of disputed origin: explanations commonly start from the basic sense ‘dismissal’, but are generally divided between two different ‘dismissals’ occurring during the mass: the ritual missa catechumenorum or dismissal of catechumens at the point in the liturgy immediately before the celebration of the Eucharist (an explanation found already a636 in Isidore Origines 6. 18. 4), and the dismissal of the congregation at the end of the mass (compare the formula Ite, missa est preserved in the Catholic liturgy, which is itself of disputed interpretation, by some being explained as showing a participle, and by others a noun). The variant pronunciation /mɑːs/ in southern standard English usage, with lengthening of short a before a voiceless fricative (not found in the homographs), was recorded with subordinate status in H. Michaelis & D. Jones Phonetic Dict. Eng. Lang. (1913), and in many later sources. Some commentators associate it specifically with Roman Catholic speakers, especially those of high social status (compare A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (1954) 55 20-56).

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French masse (11th cent. in Old French; in Anglo-Norman also in form mace ) and their etymon classical Latin massa lump, bulk, parcel of land, dough (in post-classical Latin also ‘mass of people’, ‘estate’, both from the late 4th cent.) < ancient Greek μᾶζα barley-cake (Hellenistic Greek texts, including the Septuagint, have the sense ‘lump, ball’) < the base of μάσσειν to knead (see magma n.). Compare Italian massa (a1250), Spanish masa (1220–50), Portuguese massa (13th cent.).The classical Latin sense ‘dough’ is preserved in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese (and Old French), but is not found in English. The principal senses of the English word are shared by its Romance cognates. Chief senses of the French word include: ‘a large number of human beings’ (11th cent.; compare sense 9a), ‘a dense aggregation of objects having the appearance of a single body’ (13th cent.; compare sense 1a), ‘metal ingot’ (1309; also in Anglo-Norman; compare sense 2b), ‘a great quantity of money or treasure’ (from the late 15th or early 16th cent.; compare sense 4b), ‘a close formation of troops’ (from the mid 16th cent.; compare sense 9b). The spec. gambling sense is recorded as vielli by A. Hatzfeld, A. Darmesteter, and A. Thomas Dictionnaire Général de la Langue Française (1890–1900); compare also mass v.² 3. French masse is attested as a term in art (compare sense 6a) from 1678 (similarly Italian massa from a1696), as a term in physics (compare sense 5b) from 1721 (similarly Italian massa from a1777), and as a term in music (compare sense 6b) from 1787 (similarly Italian massa from 1869). With the phrase in mass with reference to lumps of metal (see Phrases 1a), compare Anglo-Norman en masse . With the phrase in mass in the sense ‘bodily, as a whole’ (see Phrases 1b), compare Middle French, French en masse en masse adv.