mass

Definitions


[mas], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a large body of matter with no definite shape
(e.g: the sun broke out from behind a mass of clouds)

- a large number of people or objects crowded together
(e.g: a mass of cyclists)

- the majority of
(e.g: the great mass of the population had little interest in the project)

- the quantity of matter which a body contains, as measured by its acceleration under a given force or by the force exerted on it by a gravitational field
(e.g: stellar objects of intermediate mass)


Phrases:
- be a mass of
- in mass
- in the mass

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French masse, from Latin massa, from Greek maza ‘barley cake’; perhaps related to massein ‘knead’


[mas], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- involving or affecting large numbers of people or things
(e.g: the film has mass appeal)


Phrases:
- be a mass of
- in mass
- in the mass

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French masse, from Latin massa, from Greek maza ‘barley cake’; perhaps related to massein ‘knead’


[mas], (Verb)

Definitions:
- assemble or cause to assemble into a single body or mass
(e.g: both countries began massing troops in the region)


Phrases:
- be a mass of
- in mass
- in the mass

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French masse, from Latin massa, from Greek maza ‘barley cake’; perhaps related to massein ‘knead’


[mas], (Noun)

Definitions:
- the celebration of the Christian Eucharist, especially in the Roman Catholic Church
(e.g: we went to Mass)


Phrases:
- hear Mass

Origin:
Old English mæsse, from ecclesiastical Latin missa ‘dismissal, prayer at the conclusion of a liturgy, liturgy, mass’, from Latin miss- ‘dismissed’, from mittere ‘send, dismiss’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries