See also:

• MESS (an adaptation of O. Fr. mes, mod. mets; Ital. messo; derived from the Late Lat. missum, past participle of mittere " to send or place in position ")

MESS (an See also:

• ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation of O. Fr. See also:

• MES

mes, mod. mets; Ital. messo; derived from the See also:

• LATE

Late See also:

• LAT

Lat. missum, past participle of mittere " to send or See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in position ")  , a service of See also:

• MEAT

meat, a dish sent to table . The See also:

• TERM

term is also used of the persons who are in the See also:

• HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit of eating their meals together, and thus particularly of the parties into which a See also:

• SHIP

ship's See also:

• COMPANY

company or a See also:

• REGIMENT (from Late Latin regimentum, rule, regere, to rule, govern, direct)

regiment is divided, either 'according to their See also:

• RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank, or for convenience in catering . Originally, a See also:

• MESS (an adaptation of O. Fr. mes, mod. mets; Ital. messo; derived from the Late Lat. missum, past participle of mittere " to send or place in position ")

mess in this sense was a See also:

• GROUP

group of four persons sitting atone table and helped from the same dishes . In the Inns of See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

Court, See also:

• LONDON

London, the See also:

• ORIGINAL

original number is preserved, four benchers or four students dining together . In See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early times the word mess was applied to See also:

• FOOD
• FOOD (like the verb " to feed," from a Teutonic root, whence O. Eng. foda; cf. " fodder "; connected with Gr. lrareicOae, to feed)

food of a more or less liquid See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, as soup, See also:

• PORRIDGE (an altered form of " pottage," Fr. pelage, soup, that which is cooked in a pot)

porridge, broth, &c . It is probably in allusion to the sloppy nature of semi-liquid messes of food that a mess has come also to mean a See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state of disorder, confusion and discomfort . See also:

• SKEAT, WALTER WILLIAM (1835– )

Skeat takes the word in this sense to be a variant of " mash," originally to mix up .