English Explanatory Dictionary

mass

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Matter, material.
  2. A quantity of matter cohering so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size.
  3. Precious metal, especially gold or silver.
  4. A measure of the inertia of a mass of matter, one of four fundamental properties of matter. SI unit of mass: kilogram.
  5. A medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills.
  6. A palpable or visible abnormal globular structure; a tumor.
  7. Excess body mass, especially in the form of muscle hypertrophy.
  8. A large quantity; a sum.
  9. Bulk; magnitude; body; size.
  10. The principal part; the main body.
  11. A large body of individuals, especially persons.
  12. The lower classes of persons.
verb
  1. To form or collect into a mass; to form into a collective body; to assemble.
adj
  1. Involving a mass of things; concerning a large quantity or number.
  2. Involving a mass of people; of, for, or by the masses.
noun
  1. The Eucharist, now especially in Roman Catholicism.
  2. Celebration of the Eucharist.
  3. The main kind of church service, in some denominations.
  4. The sacrament of the Eucharist.
  5. A musical setting of parts of the mass.
verb
  1. To celebrate mass.
noun
  1. The principal liturgical service of the Church, encompassing both a scripture service (Liturgy of the Word) and a eucharistic service (Liturgy of the Eucharist), which includes the consecration and oblation (offering) of the host and wine.
  2. A similar ceremony offered by a number of Christian churches.
  3. A musical composition set to portions, or all, of the Mass.
name
  1. Abbreviation of Massachusetts.
  2. Alternative form of Mas.

Pronunciation

/mæs/ en-us-mass.ogg /mɑːs/ /ˈmæs/

Word forms

mass masses massing massed masser massest

Etymology

In late Middle English (circa 1400) as masse in the sense of "lump, quantity of matter", from Anglo-Norman masse, in Old French attested from the 11th century, via late Latin massa (“lump, dough”), from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “barley-cake, lump (of dough)”). The Greek noun may be derived from the verb μάσσω (mássō, “to knead”), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to oil, knead”), although this is uncertain. Doublet of masa. The sense of "a large number or quantity" arises circa 1580. The scientific sense is from 1687 (as Latin massa) in the works of Isaac Newton, with the first English use (as mass) occurring in 1704.

Synonyms

round up weigh

Related words

slug pound ounce long ton (1.12 short tons) short ton gram kilogram metric ton Divine Liturgy

Derived words

active gravitational mass airmass air mass atomic mass biomass blue mass bodymass center of mass centre of mass conservation of mass coronal mass ejection critical mass dry mass Earth mass gravitational mass inertial mass Jupiter mass landmass land mass law of conservation of mass low mass star mass balance mass center mass copper mass defect mass density mass distribution mass driver mass effect mass-energy mass energy mass finishing mass flow mass fraction mass gainer massless mass line mass man mass monster mass noun mass number mass of maneuver mass register mass shift mass spec mass spectrograph mass spectrometer mass spectrometry mass spectrum mass transfer mass wasting mineralomass molar mass molecular mass mulberry mass paraphrase mass Planck mass point mass pound-mass reaction mass

Translations

Armenian: զանգված Asturian: masa Bulgarian: голямо количество Bulgarian: ма́са Dutch: massa Dutch: hoeveelheid Esperanto: amaso Esperanto: maso Finnish: massa Finnish: paino German: Masse Gothic: 𐌷𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌼𐌰 Greek: μάζα Hungarian: tömeg Italian: massa Macedonian: маса Portuguese: monte Portuguese: massa Russian: ма́сса Slovene: masa Swahili: mshikano Albanian: masë Arabic: كُتْلَة Arabic: وَزْن Azerbaijani: kütlə Basque: masa Belarusian: ма́са Bengali: ভর Breton: tolz Burmese: ဒြပ်ထု Catalan: massa Chinese Mandarin: 質量 /质量 Czech: hmotnost Czech: váha Danish: vægt Danish: masse Estonian: mass Faroese: vekt Faroese: massi French: masse Georgian: მასა Ancient Greek: ὄγκος Haitian Creole: mas Hebrew: מַסָּה Hindi: द्रव्यमान Icelandic: massi Japanese: 質量 Japanese: 重さ Japanese: 重量 Japanese: 荷重 Kazakh: масса Khmer: ម៉ាស Afrikaans: mis Albanian: meshë Arabic: قُدَّاس Belarusian: імша́ Belarusian: ме́са Bulgarian: ме́са Catalan: missa Chinese Mandarin: 彌撒 /弥撒 Czech: mše Danish: messe Dutch: mis Esperanto: meso Estonian: missa Finnish: messu French: messe Galician: misa Galician: comunión Georgian: მესა German: Messe Greek: λειτουργία Hungarian: mise Indonesian: misa
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