A Mess Was Once a Dish of Food
A mess is a state of disorder. The military dining hall keeps the word's much older meaning.
A mess is a dirty or disordered state. That is not the original meaning: a mess was a portion of food served at a meal, then a group of people who ate together from the same dish. The *officers' mess* preserves this exactly. The disorder sense grew from *mess* used for sloppy semi-liquid food, a mixed dish of no clear identity. The root is Latin *missus*, a course sent to the table, from *mittere*, to send.
- Disorder. *What a mess.*
- A dining group. *The officers' mess.*
- A portion of food (archaic). *A mess of pottage.*
- To interfere. *Don't mess with it.*
- Latin — *missus*, a course. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | mess | A mess. |
| Verb | mess | Messing. |
| Adjective | messy | Messy. |
| Compound | mess hall | The mess hall. |
| Latin | mittere | To send. |
- The kitchen was a mess.Disorder.
- He ate in the mess.Military.
- A mess of pottage.Archaic.
The mittere family
- Mess — a course sent to the table
- Mission — a sending out
- Missile — a thing sent
- Transmit — to send across
- Dismiss — to send away
Old French *mes*, a dish, from Latin *missus*, a course, from *mittere*, to send.
Why do soldiers eat in a mess?
Because mess originally meant a dish of food and then the group that shared it. The military use kept the old sense.
How did mess come to mean disorder?
From mess used for sloppy mixed food, a dish with no clear identity, which then described any jumbled state.