messa Italian · revision 38257

+ DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT separate the ''messa'' of the liturgy, from Late Latin ''missa'', from the ''messa'' “putting, setting”, formed in Italian from the past participle of [[mettere]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ {{homograph|1|Mass}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century, Glossario di Monza|origins=la mittō}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmes.sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''messa''' ''f'' (plural messe)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include ''mesa'', ''missa'' and ''mexe''.^(TLIO)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ The Mass is [[inh|la-lat|missa]], recorded in 385 in a letter of Saint Ambrose: “missam facere coepi” (“I began to celebrate Mass”).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The same word is [[fr|messe]] and [[oc|mesa]], while [[es|misa]], [[ca|missa]] and [[pt|missa]] came down through learned channels.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

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+ The Latin word is linked with the formula of dismissal at the end of the rite, “ite, missa est”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI, GRADIT and Devoto–Oli read the word there as the feminine past participle of [[la|mittō|t=to send]]: “go, (the offering) has been sent”, either to the absent faithful or to God.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Nocentini notes that this explanation, proposed by Antonino Pagliaro, faces a difficulty: the formula is not recorded before the 7th century, when the practice of sending the Eucharist to the absent had long ceased, while the noun meant “dismissal” already in the 4th century.^(Nocentini 2010) He therefore prefers an abstract noun from the verb, “dismissal”, transferred from the end of the rite to the whole rite.^(Nocentini 2010) Wiktionary also takes it as a Late Latin equivalent of [[m|la|missiō|t=dismissal]].^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the 10th-century Glossary of Monza.^(TLIO) In literary texts DELI dates the word to Bono Giamboni, before 1292, for the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood renewed by the priest at the altar.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old Italian distinguished the Mass by its form, as in ''cantare messa'', celebrating it with chant, and ''messa bassa'' or ''piana'', a low Mass read by one priest, and by its time, as in ''prima messa'', the first Mass of the morning.^(TLIO) Boccaccio has people “have Masses said” for a soul.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The musical setting of the sung parts is recorded before 1565 in Benedetto Varchi.^(DELI 1999)

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+ ''Messa nera'', the black Mass, translates French ''messe noire'' (1874).^(DELI 1999) The ''messale'', the book with the texts of the Mass for the whole year, is in Giovanni Villani before 1348, from Medieval Latin ''missale''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 385 – Saint Ambrose writes ''missam facere coepi''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 10th century – The word appears in the Glossary of Monza.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses ''messa''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – ''Messale'' appears in Giovanni Villani.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses it for a musical Mass.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1874 – French ''messe noire'' is recorded, the model of ''messa nera''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Christianity)'' The [[m|en|Mass]], the central rite of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, in which the sacrifice of Christ is renewed and commemorated: ''Andiamo alla messa delle undici.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' A setting of the sung parts of the Mass: ''una messa di Palestrina''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[messale]]

+ * [[messalino]]

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+ {{homograph|2|putting, setting}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1363|origins=la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmes.sa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''messa''' ''f'' (plural messe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ This noun is the feminine of [[messo]], the past participle of [[mettere]], used as a noun.^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) The verb is [[inh|la|mittō|t=to send]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ GRADIT dates the word to before 1363.^(GRADIT 2003) Matteo Villani uses it for bringing in a mercenary company: ''per la messa che fatta avea della compagna in Forlì'' (“for having brought the company into Forlì”).^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 14th century the word had several concrete senses: a merchant's share of capital in a company, a stake at play, and a course served at table.^(DEI|2436)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) In the 16th century it also meant a shoot of a plant, and in the 19th century, in singing, ''messa di voce'' was the swelling and fading of a held note.^(DEI|2436)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ Today it lives mostly in technical phrases built with ''a'' or ''in'': ''messa a punto'', ''messa a fuoco'', ''messa in moto'', ''messa in onda'', ''messa in piega''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) ''Messa in scena'' has also been written as one noun, [[messinscena]].^(Wiktionary)^(Gabrielli 2020)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1363 – The noun is recorded.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 14th century – It is used for a merchant's share and a stake at play.^(DEI|2436)

+ * 16th century – It is used for a plant shoot.^(DEI|2436)

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+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of putting or setting, in phrases with ''a'' or ''in'': ''la messa in vendita dei biglietti'', ''la messa a fuoco dell'obiettivo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' A [[m|en|shoot]] or sprout of a plant.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' A [[m|en|stake]] in a game of chance.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(music)'' ''messa di voce'', a gradual swelling and fading of a sustained note.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A sum contributed to the capital of a company.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[messinscena]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mettere]]

+ * [[messo]]

+ * [[missione]]

+ * [[la|missa]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ Old Italian also had a rare ''messa'' for the harvest, a form of [[messe]] that Guittone d'Arezzo uses.^(DEI|2436)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) The liturgical word is often written with a capital, ''la Messa''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}