Meanings
plural dry masses
- space flightaerospaceThe mass of a rocket including its contents but without propellant.
- historicalCatholicismA demonstrative celebration of most of the liturgy of the Mass, omitting the consecration of the elements.
Alongside the mass as a means of providing access to the consecrated elements, there is the oddity of the holding of masses without any consecration. These ‘dry masses’ are one of the more shadowy elements of medieval devotion, ill-documented and little considered.
1995, Robert N. Swanson, Religion and Devotion in Europe, c.1215–c.1515, page 139
Origin
- Ecclesiastical Latinmissa sicca
- Englishdry mass
From dry + mass. In the liturgical sense, a calque of Ecclesiastical Latin missa sicca.
More words from Ecclesiastical Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
dry mass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20mass
“dry mass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20mass. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dry mass,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20mass.
Source: dry mass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.