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mis

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mis1 Mass

Pronunciation

Forms

mis f (plural missen, diminutive misje n)[1] The older spelling is misse.[2] Middle Dutch also had messe.[3][4]

Etymology

The Mass is inherited from Middle Dutch misse, borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin missa (“Mass”), a Christian Latin word first found in 385.[3][1] The Middle Dutch form ⟨messe⟩ is explained by De Vries and Franck–Van Wijk as an early loan, perhaps of about 600–700, from the spoken Romance form, Vulgar Latin messa (whence Italian messa and French messe), like Old High German messa (modern German Messe) and Old English mæsse (modern English mass); ⟨misse⟩ would then be a learned form from church Latin or a respelling after it.[5][6][2]

The origin of missa is disputed.[3] Most scholars take it as Late Latin “dismissal”, a noun from Latin mittō (“to send”), and refer either to the sending away of the catechumens before the second part of the service or to the closing formula ⟨ite, missa est⟩, “go, it is the dismissal”.[3][5][2] Christine Mohrmann took it instead as a derivative of the same verb in the sense “to offer, serve”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in 1236, in a Ghent charter that mentions the service of the Mass.[3][7][8] A text of 1248–1271 already speaks of singing a requiem Mass, misse singen van requiem.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the Mass of a saint's day the word came to mean the feast day itself, as in Old High German, Old Saxon, Old Frisian and Old English; in Germany it later also meant an annual fair, a sense that Middle Dutch hardly knew.[6][5] This use survives in compounds such as Kerstmis “Christmas” and kermis “fair”.[6][5]

The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal records the many kinds of Mass named after Latin: gezongen mis, stille mis, vroegmis, mis van requiem; a text of 1503 already distinguishes the read Mass from the sung one.[2] Among non-Catholics het secreet van de mis “the secret of the Mass” became a joking phrase for the heart of a matter (1645).[2] In the Dutch East Indies the word passed into Indonesian as Misa and into Moluccan and Chinese Malay.[9]

Timeline

  • 1236 – Middle Dutch messe “Mass” is first recorded, in Ghent.[3][8]
  • 1248–1271 – Misse singen van requiem “to sing a requiem Mass” is recorded.[3]
  • 1503 – A document distinguishes the read Mass, lesende misse, from the sung one.[2]
  • 1645 – Het secreet van de misse is used mockingly for the crux of a matter.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Catholicism) Mass, the eucharistic service of the Catholic Church: Op zondag gaan ze naar de mis.[10][1][11]
  2. A musical setting of the texts of the Mass.[10]

Word family

  • hoogmis
  • vroegmis
  • nachtmis
  • kerstmis
  • kermis
  • misboek
  • misdienaar
  • misgewaad
  • misviering
  • miswijn

mis2 wrong, off target

Pronunciation

Forms

mis (used only predicatively, not comparable)[1]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Middle Dutch mis, found rarely and late, also as ⟨mes⟩ “wrong; odd (of numbers)”.[3][6] Wiktionary gives the chain as inherited from Old Dutch *missa, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *missu (“lack, failure, mistake”).[1] The EWN takes it as the same word as the prefix mis- “wrong”, with its sense “not hitting” widened later under the influence of the verb missen.[3] The adjective has parallels in Middle Low German mis (“wrong”) and Old High German missi (“different”), and Old Norse ýmiss (“various”) has it with an unclear prefix.[5][3] Franck–Van Wijk say all these forms belong with the prefix, but that how and when they arose is uncertain.[6]

The prefix first meant “different, divergent”, as in Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (missaleiks, “different”) beside 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐍉 (missō, “mutually”);[5] De Vries compares Latin mūtuus (“mutual”).[5] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *missaz (“wrong, divergent”) and derives it from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to change, exchange”).[1] A noun misse (“error, mishap”) is found beside the adjective, and the phrase ⟨te misse⟩ with verbs of shooting has been proposed as the source of the stressed ⟨mis⟩ in verbs like misschieten, though Franck–Van Wijk call this uncertain.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective appears in the second half of the 15th century: in a text of 1460–1480 a woman takes aim niet alte mess, “not too wide of the mark”.[3] The Teuthonista of 1477 has myss “odd”, of numbers.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “not hitting” is recorded in 1617, het schot was mis “the shot missed”, and “incorrect” in 1663.[3] In 1733 ik heb het mis “I am wrong” appears, and in 1784 't is weer mis met hem, “something is wrong with him again”.[3] Today it is used only as a predicate: daar is niks mis mee means there is nothing wrong with it, and dat is niet mis! expresses respect for something big or impressive.[10][1] German dialects borrowed it as mis “missed, failed”.[9]

Timeline

  • 1460–1480 – Middle Dutch mess “wide of the mark” is recorded.[3]
  • 1477 – The Teuthonista has myss “odd (of numbers)”.[3]
  • 1617 – Het schot was mis “the shot missed”.[3]
  • 1663 – Mis “incorrect” is first recorded.[3]
  • 1733 – Het mis hebben “to be wrong” is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (predicative) missed, off target, not a hit: Zijn tweede worp was ook mis.[10][1]
  2. (predicative) wrong, amiss: Je hebt het helemaal mis.[10][1][11]
  • mis-
  • missen
  • missie
  • English mass

Usage notes

Mis poes! is a cry when someone misses.[10] The proverb niet geschoten is altijd mis (“not shot is always missed”) urges trying anyway.[1] De Vries also gives the prefix mis- a number of its own, while the EWN and Van Dale keep only the noun and the adjective.[5][3][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
  4. ^ Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
  7. ^ Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
  8. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
  9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
  11. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org