[mɛs], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a dirty or untidy state of things or of a place
(e.g: she made a mess of the kitchen)

- a situation that is confused and full of problems
(e.g: the economy is still in a terrible mess)

- a portion of semi-liquid food
(e.g: a mess of mashed black beans and rice)

- a building or room providing meals and recreational facilities for members of the armed forces
(e.g: the sergeants' mess)

- a large amount or quantity of
(e.g: big-time outfits that do a mess of printing)


Phrases:
- make a mess
- make a mess of
- mess with someone's head

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French mes ‘portion of food’, from late Latin missum ‘something put on the table’, past participle of mittere ‘send, put’. The original sense was ‘a serving of (semi-liquid) food’, later ‘liquid food for an animal’; this gave rise (early 19th century) to the senses ‘unappetizing concoction’ and ‘predicament’, on which sense 1 is based. In late Middle English the term also denoted any of the small groups into which the company at a banquet was divided (who were served from the same dishes); hence, ‘a group who regularly eat together’ (recorded in military use from the mid 16th century)

[mɛs], (Verb)

Definitions:
- make untidy or dirty
(e.g: she scratched her head, messing her hair still further)

- have one's meals with a particular person, especially as a member of an armed forces' mess
(e.g: I messed at first with Harry, who became a lifelong friend)


Phrases:
- make a mess
- make a mess of
- mess with someone's head

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French mes ‘portion of food’, from late Latin missum ‘something put on the table’, past participle of mittere ‘send, put’. The original sense was ‘a serving of (semi-liquid) food’, later ‘liquid food for an animal’; this gave rise (early 19th century) to the senses ‘unappetizing concoction’ and ‘predicament’, on which sense 1 is based. In late Middle English the term also denoted any of the small groups into which the company at a banquet was divided (who were served from the same dishes); hence, ‘a group who regularly eat together’ (recorded in military use from the mid 16th century)