Main Entry:

¹mess

Pronunciation:

\ˈmes\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English mes, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin missus course at a meal, from missus, past participle of mittere to put, from Latin, to send — more at smite

Date:

14th century

1: a quantity of food: aarchaic : food set on a table at one time b: a prepared dish of soft food ; also : a mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together c: enough food of a specified kind for a dish or a meal <picked a mess of peas for dinner> 2 a: a group of persons who regularly take their meals together ; also : a meal so taken b: a place where meals are regularly served to a group : mess hall3 a: a disordered, untidy, offensive, or unpleasant state or condition <your room is in a mess> b: one that is disordered, untidy, offensive, or unpleasant usually because of blundering, laxity, or misconduct <[the movie] is a mess, as sloppy in concept as it is in execution — Judith Crist>4: a large quantity or number