• n. 塊，團；群眾，民眾；大量，眾多；質量
• adj. 群眾的，民眾的；大規模的，集中的
• vi. 聚集起來，聚集
• vt. 使集合

來自拉丁語missa,解散，遣散，詞源同mission,emit.宗教詞義彌撒來自彌撒儀式后的解散語”Ite,missa est”,即走吧，解散了，ite,走，離開，詞源同exit,missa,解散，詞源同emit,est,是，詞源同is,essence.

來自拉丁語massa,大塊，面團，來自PIE*mag,揉，捏，詞源同make,massage.引申詞義團，塊，堆，以及用于物理學術語物質質量，原子質量等。

mass

mass: English has two distinct words mass. The one meaning ‘Eucharist’ [OE] comes from late Latin missa, a noun use of the feminine past participle of mittere ‘send’ (source of English admit, commit, dismiss, mission, etc) possibly arising from Ite, missa est ‘Go, it is the dismissal’, the last words of the Latin Eucharist service. Mass ‘amount of matter’ [14] comes via Old French masse and Latin massa from Greek maza ‘barley cake’, hence ‘lump, mass’.

The derivative massive [15] goes back ultimately to Vulgar Latin *massīceus. A possible relative is massage [19], a borrowing from French. It was a derivative of masser ‘massage’, which may have been acquired from Portuguese amassar ‘knead’, a verb based on massa ‘mass, dough’.
=> admit, commit, dismiss, mission, transmit; massage, massive

mass (v.)

"to gather in a mass" (intransitive), 1560s, from mass (n.1) or from French masser. Transitive sense by c. 1600. Related: Massed; massing.

mass (n.1)

"lump, quantity, size," late 14c., from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley cake, lump, mass, ball," related to massein "to knead," from PIE root *mag- "to knead" (source of Lithuanian minkyti "to knead," see macerate). Sense extended in English 1580s to "a large quantity, amount, or number." Strict sense in physics is from 1704.

As an adjective from 1733, first attested in mass meeting in American English. mass culture is from 1916 in sociology (earlier in biology); mass hysteria is from 1914; mass media is from 1923; mass movement is from 1897; mass production is from 1920; mass grave is from 1918; mass murder from 1880.

mass (n.2)

"Eucharistic service," Old English m?sse, from Vulgar Latin *messa "eucharistic service," literally "dismissal," from Late Latin missa "dismissal," fem. past participle of mittere "to let go, send" (see mission); probably so called from the concluding words of the service, Ite, missa est, "Go, (the prayer) has been sent," or "Go, it is the dismissal." Sometimes glossed in Old English as sendnes "send-ness."

1. On his desk is a mass of books and papers.

他的書桌上有大堆的書籍和文件。

來自柯林斯例句

2. In the spring, the meadow is a mass of daffodils.

春天，草地上開滿了黃水仙。

來自柯林斯例句

3. Pope John Paul celebrated mass today in a city in central Poland.

教皇保羅二世今天在波蘭中部的一個城市主持了彌撒。

來自柯林斯例句

4. Only with mass direct action will we obtain such change.

只有采取大規模直接行動，我們才會取得這樣的改變。

來自柯林斯例句

5. The 1939-45 world war involved the mass of the population.

1939至1945年間的世界大戰使大多數民眾卷入其中。

來自柯林斯例句