message English · revision 3247

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1297|origins=la mittere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmes.ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|message]],^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|message|t=message, news, tidings, embassy]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-med|missāticum]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) from [[la|missus|t=a sending]], the past participle of [[m|la|mittere|t=to release, let go; send]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) with the suffix -āticum.^(MWU 2024) Barnhart thinks the English word was probably also partly a back-formation from the earlier messager, “messenger”.^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[mission]], [[missile]] and [[Mass]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A communication sent through a messenger: about 1300,^(Etymonline) probably about 1300,^(Barnhart 1988) or 1297.^(OED 1989) In Old English the Latin word was glossed by ærende.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The business entrusted to a messenger, an errand, is from about 1290.^(OED 1989) In religious use a message was a divinely inspired communication through a prophet, from the 1540s (1546),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) which led to the general sense “the broad meaning or lesson of something” by 1828.^(Etymonline) An official communication from the sovereign to Parliament is from 1566.^(OED 1989) A telegraph message is from 1847.^(OED 1989) ''To get the message'', “to understand”, is by 1960.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''To shoot the messenger'' is recorded only from the 1960s, though the idea is at least as old as Shakespeare.^(Cresswell 2021) The verb, “to send as a message”, is from 1582^(MWU 2024) or 1583,^(OED 1989) was marked obsolete in the Century Dictionary (1895), and was revived for sending electronic messages by 1992.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1290 – an errand.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1297 – a communication.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1546 – a prophet's message.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1566 – a message from the sovereign.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1583 – verb, to send as a message.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1828 – the meaning of something.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1847 – a telegraph message.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1960 – ''get the message''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1992 – verb, to send an electronic message.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A spoken, written or electronic [[communication]] sent from one person to another.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The main point or meaning of something, such as a book or speech.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A lesson or [[moral]]: ''a film with a message''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A formal statement sent to a body: ''the President's message to Congress''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To send a message to, especially electronically.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[intermessage]]

+ * [[message board]]

+ * [[message unit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[messenger]]

+ * [[mission]]

+ * [[missile]]

+ * [[dismiss]]

+ * [[emit]]

+ * [[promise]]

+ * [[Mass]]

+ * [[errand]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}