mess

mess · noun, verb¹

1. Middle English · derived frommesh“mash”
2. English todaymess

Perhaps a corruption of Middle English mesh (“mash”), compare muss, or derived from Etymology 2 "mixed foods, as for animals". Compare also Old English mes (“dung, excrement”).

mess · noun, verb²

1. Late Latin · derived frommissum
2. Old French · derived frommes
3. Late Latin · derived frommē(n)sa“table; meal”
4. Old English · inherited frommēse
5. Middle English · inherited frommes
6. English todaymess

From 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”).

Mess · proper noun³

1. German · borrowed fromMess
2. English todayMess

Borrowed from German Mess.

Words from the same roots