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Exact historical dictionary sense

Mess in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels mess as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Mess

[OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See Mission, and cf. Mass religious service.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordmess
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See Mission, and cf. Mass religious service.]
Selected historical definitionA quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time.
Signed record IDwebster1913-mess-noun-08e17d560186
Source locatorCIDE.M, paragraph 5485; Gutenberg eBook 665
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 665Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "mess" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere to put, place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See Mission, and cf. Mass religious service.]" The selected historical definition says: "A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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noun

Must

[AS. must, fr. L. mustum (sc. vinum), from mustus young, new, fresh. Cf. Mustard.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Money

[OE. moneie, OF. moneie, F. monnaie, fr. L. moneta. See Mint place where coin is made, Mind, and cf. Moidore, Monetary.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Million

[F., from LL. millio, fr. L. mille a thousand. See Mile.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Major

[L. major, compar. of magnus great: cf. F. majeur. Cf. Master, Mayor, Magnitude, More, a.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Moment

[F. moment, L. momentum, for movimentum movement, motion, moment, fr. movere to move. See Move, and cf. Momentum, Movement.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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