Meanings
nounMess-John (plural Mess-Johns)
plural Mess-Johns
- obsoleteA domestic chaplain.
I should only stipulate that these new Mess-Johns in robes and coronets should keep some sort of bounds in the democratic and levelling principles which are expected from their titled pulpits.
1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC
Origin
From mess (“mass”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Mess-John. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mess-John
MLA
“Mess-John.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mess-John. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mess-John,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mess-John.
Source: Mess-John on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.