mesa

Forms

mesa f (plural mesas)^[1] Medieval texts also write messa.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish mesa, inherited from Late Latin mēsa, the late form of mēnsa (“table”), with the nasal lost before /s/.^[1][3][4] The same word is Portuguese mesa, Galician mesa, Asturian mesa, Catalan mesa and Romanian masă; Old French moise “table” survives in French moise, a carpentry term for a pair of tie beams.^[4][5][6][7]

The Latin noun is probably the feminine of mēnsus (“measured”), the past participle of mētior (“to measure”).^[8][1][9] De Vaan suggests that the word first named a sacrificial offering, perhaps a flat cake, and then the table on which offerings were laid.^[8] Covarrubias (1611) reports Varro's derivation from Ancient Greek μέση (mésē, “middle”), because the table stood between the diners.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEMel's first record is a charter of 978 in the Cartulario de Covarrubias, but Segura Munguía gives 987.^[2][11] In the Latin text of the Fuero de Madrid (known from a 13th-century copy) the word names a butcher's counter, and 13th-century inventories list mesas among household goods: una mesa, una masera, un duerno “a table, a kneading trough, a tub” (1225).^[12] In the Razón de amor the wine boasts la mesa sin mj nada non ual “without me the table is worth nothing”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose mesa is the piece of furniture, the flat top of a cut gem (Picatrix, 1256) and the daily food served at table.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades adds the landing of a staircase, any level ground on a height (la mesa de Ocaña), the revenues of a church or prelate, and the Eucharist.^[14][14] The Academy's 1817 dictionary records the business of an official in a government office and the fee paid for a game of billiards, and the 1869 edition the officers who preside over an assembly.^[15][16]

The geographical sense passed into English as mesa “tableland”, first recorded in 1759 for the American Southwest.^[6] In Cuba, place names keep mesa for what Spain calls meseta.^[17] In Peru and Bolivia a mesa is the cloth on which a healer lays out the objects of a ritual.^[18]

Timeline

• 978 – a charter in the Cartulario de Covarrubias.^[2]
• 1225 – a lawsuit settlement lists una mesa among household goods.^[12]
• 1256 – the Picatrix uses mesa for the flat face of a gem.^[13]
• 1513 – the first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records the mesa franca, a table open to all comers.^[10]
• 1759 – the English word mesa “tableland”.^[6]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary first gives the sense “board presiding over an assembly”.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A table: a piece of furniture with a flat top on one or more legs, for eating, writing and other uses: Dejó las llaves sobre la mesa.^[3][1]
2. The board of officers who preside over an assembly or a polling station: la mesa electoral.^[3][1]
3. (geography) A mesa, a high, flat piece of ground surrounded by valleys.^[3][1]
4. The landing at the end of a flight of stairs.^[3]
5. The food served at table; cuisine: la buena mesa “good food and drink”.^[3][20]
6. (religion) Holy communion.^[3]
7. The revenues of a church, prelate or military order.^[3]
8. The main flat face of a cut gem; each of the flats of a blade.^[3]
9. A game of billiards, and the fee paid for it.^[3]
10. (rare) The section of business handled by an official in an office.^[3]

Word family

• mesero
• mesilla
• mesita
• sobremesa
• meseta

Related words

• comensal
• Latin mēnsa
• Portuguese mesa

Usage notes

Common set phrases are poner la mesa “to lay the table”, levantar la mesa “to clear the table” and mesa redonda “round table, panel discussion”.^[1][20] In the Río de la Plata a bedside table is a mesa de luz.^[21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. mesa
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. mesa
4. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. mesa
5. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. mesa
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1132
11. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 457
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. mesa
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. mesa
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 554
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 570
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 506
17. ^ Ortiz, Fernando (1923), Un catauro de cubanismos: apuntes lexicográficos, La Habana, p. 212
18. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. mesa
19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. mesa
20. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. mesa
21. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. mesa