Meaning of "mess" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD MESS

From Old French mes dish of food, from Late Latin missus course (at table), from Latin mittere to send forth, set out.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF MESS

mess  [mɛs]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF MESS

Mess is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb mess in English.

WHAT DOES MESS MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Mess

A mess is an area where military personnel socialize, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food", drawn from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send" and "to put", the original sense being "a course of a meal put on the table". This sense of mess, which appeared in English in the 13th century, was often used for cooked or liquid dishes in particular, as in the "mess of pottage". By the 15th century, a group of people who ate together was also called a mess, and it is this sense that persists in the "mess halls" of the modern military.

Definition of mess in the English dictionary

The first definition of mess in the dictionary is a state of confusion or untidiness, esp if dirty or unpleasant. Other definition of mess is a chaotic or troublesome state of affairs; muddle. Mess is also a dirty or untidy person or thing.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO MESS

PRESENT

Present

I mess

you mess

he/she/it messes

we mess

you mess

they mess

Present continuous

I am messing

you are messing

he/she/it is messing

we are messing

you are messing

they are messing

Present perfect

I have messed

you have messed

he/she/it has messed

we have messed

you have messed

they have messed

Present perfect continuous

I have been messing

you have been messing

he/she/it has been messing

we have been messing

you have been messing

they have been messing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I messed

you messed

he/she/it messed

we messed

you messed

they messed

Past continuous

I was messing

you were messing

he/she/it was messing

we were messing

you were messing

they were messing

Past perfect

I had messed

you had messed

he/she/it had messed

we had messed

you had messed

they had messed

Past perfect continuous

I had been messing

you had been messing

he/she/it had been messing

we had been messing

you had been messing

they had been messing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will mess

you will mess

he/she/it will mess

we will mess

you will mess

they will mess

Future continuous

I will be messing

you will be messing

he/she/it will be messing

we will be messing

you will be messing

they will be messing

Future perfect

I will have messed

you will have messed

he/she/it will have messed

we will have messed

you will have messed

they will have messed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been messing

you will have been messing

he/she/it will have been messing

we will have been messing

you will have been messing

they will have been messing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would mess

you would mess

he/she/it would mess

we would mess

you would mess

they would mess

Conditional continuous

I would be messing

you would be messing

he/she/it would be messing

we would be messing

you would be messing

they would be messing

Conditional perfect

I would have mess

you would have mess

he/she/it would have mess

we would have mess

you would have mess

they would have mess

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been messing

you would have been messing

he/she/it would have been messing

we would have been messing

you would have been messing

they would have been messing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you mess
we let´s mess
you mess

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to mess

Past participle

messed

Present Participle

messing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «MESS»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «mess» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of mess

balls-up · bodge · botch · chaos · clutter · confusion · difficulty · dilemma · dirtiness · disarray · disorder · disorganization · fix · fuck-up · grot · hash · hole · imbroglio · jam · jumble · litter · mix-up · muddle · perplexity · pickle · plight · predicament · shambles · spot · state · stew · tight spot · turmoil · untidiness · uphill

TRANSLATION OF MESS

Find out the translation of mess to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of mess from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «mess» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 混乱
• Translator English - Spanish: desorden
• English: mess
• Translator English - Hindi: गंदगी
• Translator English - Arabic: فَوْضَى
• Translator English - Russian: беспорядок
• Translator English - Portuguese: bagunça
• Translator English - Bengali: জগাখিচুড়ি
• Translator English - French: désordre
• Translator English - Malay: Kekacauan
• Translator English - German: Durcheinander
• Translator English - Japanese: 散乱
• Translator English - Korean: 엉망인 상태
• Translator English - Javanese: Kekacoan
• Translator English - Vietnamese: bừa bãi
• Translator English - Tamil: குழப்பம்
• Translator English - Marathi: गोंधळ
• Translator English - Turkish: dağınıklık
• Translator English - Italian: disordine
• Translator English - Polish: bałagan
• Translator English - Ukrainian: безлад
• Translator English - Romanian: dezordine
• Translator English - Greek: μπέρδεμα
• Translator English - Afrikaans: gemors
• Translator English - Swedish: röra
• Translator English - Norwegian: rot

10 QUOTES WITH «MESS»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word mess.

1

Les Aspin

That was not part of the U.N. resolution; it was not part of the mandate to go on to Baghdad and, frankly, if we had gone into Baghdad and pushed Saddam Hussein off, we would have inherited an even bigger mess than the mess we inherited with the refugee problem.

2

Roseanne Barr

Excuse the mess but we live here.

3

Fantasia Barrino

You've got to make it a good example for those kids regardless of how much you mess up.

4

Mary J. Blige

From being a little girl in the projects, going through all of the mess that I was going through, to ending up at the Inauguration for the first African-American president, I'm speechless right now because I never thought I'd - I never ever - I couldn't even see that far. Even when I ended up in the music business, I couldn't see that.

5

Ginny Brown-Waite

The United Nations is a mess, riddled with scandals. In fact, the U.N. itself is a scandal.

6

Don Cheadle

President Obama inherited a broken country mired in two wars, a financial crisis, a mortgage mess and more than we all probably even know about and has in my opinion brought us back from the brink. But I still see my friends in no better shape and the gap widening.

7

Cher

Yes, it's a man's world, but that's all right because they're making a total mess of it. We're chipping away at their control, taking the parts we want. Some women think it's a difficult task, but it's not.

8

Chris Christie

The three top issues have to be restoring jobs and private sector job growth to our country, getting the entitlement mess under control, and restoring back to our country a sense of self-confidence that Americans can achieve whatever we want to achieve.

9

Harlan Coben

In the end, we know what makes us happy. We also know what makes us unhappy. That's the irony. We know and yet we still mess it up. That's part of the human condition, no, and why we need to work on it.

10

Justin Cronin

If you try to write 1,000 words a day, as I do, after 100 days you'll look up and have a book. It may be a mess, and you may have to revise it 50 times, but you can't revise it if you haven't written it.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «MESS»

Discover the use of mess in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to mess and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes

This book is unlike any other you've encountered.

Keri Smith, 2010

Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz

In this revelatory book, accomplished jazz pianist and management scholar Frank Barrett shows how this improvisational “jazz mind-set” and the skills that go along with it are essential for effective leadership today.

Frank Barrett, 2013

A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book: 95 Inspiring Ideas for ...

In A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book, Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, sisters and creators of the DIY style blog A Beautiful Mess, share their infectious love of photo-taking, inspiring the young and hip to grab a camera (or smartphone) and ...

Elsie Larson, Emma Chapman, 2013

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits Of Disorder

Like the bestselling Freakonomics or Blink, here is a book that combines a professor's expertise with stories from everyday life to provide a striking new view of how our world works.

Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman, 2013

Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio (NelsonFree)

In Beautiful Mess Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout, Gene Johnson, and Dana Williams each has an entire chapter devoted to his personal and professional life.

Diamond Rio, 2009

After Method: Mess in Social Science Research

This stimulating book is about what went wrong with 'research methods'. Its controversial argument is radical, and at times, even revolutionary.-publisher description.

John Law, 2004

The Mess Inside: Narrative, Emotion, and the Mind

Peter Goldie engages with all of these areas of discourse in The Mess Inside.

Peter Goldie, 2012

Mouse Mess

A hungry mouse leaves a huge mess when it goes in search of a snack.

‎1997

A Beautiful Mess

A Beautiful Mess is the first installment of a three part series sure to captivate the heart with a story of secrets, courage, and love. Recommended for ages 18 and up due to sexual situations, language, and mild violence.

T.K. Leigh, 2013

Mess Night Traditions

Many officers are not even aware of Mess Nights. This is because of several factors covered in the book. Hopefully, this book will stimulate greater interest in this important event.

Charles J. Gibowicz, 2007

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «MESS»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term mess is used in the context of the following news items.

Andy Burnham: Labour made a mess of welfare bill vote

The Labour party is “crying out for leadership” after it made a “mess” of Monday night's vote on the government's welfare bill, leadership hopeful ... «The Guardian, Jul 15»

Pemberton Music Festival Goers Leave Behind Shocking Mess

Although the festival was a fun weekend filled with music and beautiful scenery, some festival goers left behind a shocking mess, while others ... «KelownaNow, Jul 15»

'Sort this mess out': AMA head Brian Owler

Australian Medical Association head Brian Owler has made a last-minute pitch to premiers and chief ministers to sort out the "mess" of health ... «The Australian Financial Review, Jul 15»

Report: Cleveland Browns Still A Huge Mess

The Browns are bad and hilarious, and it sure looks like they will never stop being that way. The latest report on the team's persistent, ingrained ... «Deadspin, Jul 15»

Grand old mess: There are many high-quality candidates in the …

One way and another, the Republicans are in a mess. The shambles are evident on Capitol Hill, despite the GOP majorities in both House and ... «The Independent, Jul 15»

Structure of new Limerick authority 'a mess' say staff

A report in the LAPO survey states: “There's common consensus that management are out of touch... the structure of the organisation is a mess. «Irish Examiner, Jul 15»

Rauner blasts Madigan for lawmaker pay hike amid budget mess

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The House has rebuffed a Republican attempt to consider legislation rejecting a pay increase for lawmakers. «fox2now.com, Jul 15»

Wallabies forward a bloody mess in Mendoza

Flanker Scott Fardy has emerged from a fierce Wallabies training session in Mendoza needing plenty of stitches after being elbowed and kicked in the head. «TVNZ, Jul 15»

Vulture leaves bloody mess after smashing through cockpit window

Vulture leaves bloody mess after smashing through cockpit window. 3:30pm. share. One News. Source: Vulture leave bloody mess after smashing through ... «TVNZ, Jul 15»

Vulture leave bloody mess after smashing through cockpit window

... leave bloody mess after smashing through cockpit window. now. share. One News. Source: Vulture leave bloody mess after smashing through cockpit window. «TVNZ, Jul 15»