Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “messy” come from?

messy (Middle English) comes from Middle English messe, from Old English mæsse, from Vulgar Latin messa, from Latin missa, from Latin missum, from Latin mittō, from Proto-Italic meitō, from Proto-Indo-European meyth₂- — to hurt; to exchange, remove; to replace, to...

messy (Middle English): Alternative form of messe

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of messe

Ancestry of “messy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmesseMass; The Eucharist; Holy Communion; The act of...
2Old Englishmæssemass
3Vulgar LatinmessaEucharist, dismissal; Eucharist; dismissal;...
4LatinmissaMass; Christian eucharistic liturgy; nominative...
5Latinmissumaccusative supine of mittō; inflection of...
6Latinmittō—
7Proto-Italicmeitō—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanmeyth₂-to hurt; to exchange, remove; to replace, to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European meyth₂- →