mesh English · revision 39893

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1395, Wycliffite Bible|origins=gem-pro *maskwǭ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /mɛʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|dum|maesche]] (also [[m|dum|masche]]; modern Dutch [[m|nl|maas]]),^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) [[der|gem-pro|*maskwǭ]].^(AHD 2024)^(Orel 2003) The OED allows that it may instead continue an unrecorded Old English noun of the same Germanic origin, but thinks a borrowing from Dutch far more likely, since many fishing terms came into English from Dutch.^(OED 2026) Etymonline and Barnhart derive it from late [[m|ang|max|t=net]], earlier [[m|ang|mæscre|t=mesh]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a form in which the consonants of the Germanic stem were transposed;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Skeat 1911) the Oxford Dictionary of English suggests an unrecorded Old English word reinforced by the Dutch one.^(ODE 2010) The cognates include [[non|mǫskvi|t=mesh]], [[osx|masca]], [[goh|masca]] and [[de|Masche|t=mesh, loop]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Orel 2003)^(MWU 2024) Outside Germanic they are compared with [[lt|mazgas|t=knot]] and [[m|lt|megzti|t=to knit]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(AHD 2024)^(Orel 2003) from an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*mezg-|t=to knit, plait, twist]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An open space between the threads of a net: in the later Wycliffite Bible, about 1395,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) written ''mesche''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The forms ''mask'' and ''maske'' are found from 1343.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) defined the word as the space between the threads of a net and thought it would better be spelled ''mash'', as it was commonly pronounced.^(Johnson 1755) From 1602 it also meant the thread surrounding one hole, often in the plural,^(OED 2026) and later, from 1725, the threads of a net collectively, and so any netting of thread or wire.^(OED 2026) The figurative "snare, entanglement" appears in 1541,^(OED 2026) and the verb was used figuratively, "to entangle", in 1532, in Thomas More, before its literal sense "to catch in a net" (before 1547).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Technical senses followed: an interlaced structure in a living body (1712), a closed loop of an electrical circuit (1881), surgical netting (1900), steel reinforcement for concrete (1904), a measure of the fineness of a sieve or grid (1926) and a network of linked computers (1977).^(OED 2026) The engagement of gear teeth gave the verb's intransitive sense by 1850,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) which led to the figurative "to fit together, work in harmony" in 1944, in H. G. Wells.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset and Somerset dialect a ''mesh'' was the run of a hare or rabbit through a hedge, or a gap made there.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1343 – ''mask'', ''maske''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1395 – ''mesche'', an opening in a net.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1532 – verb, to entangle (figurative).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1541 – noun, a snare (figurative).^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1547 – verb, to catch in a net.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1725 – netting, mesh material.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1850 – verb, of gear teeth, to engage.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1904 – steel reinforcement for concrete.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1944 – verb, to fit together harmoniously.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1977 – (computing) a network of linked processors.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A material made of [[thread]]s, [[wire]]s or strands woven or joined into a [[net]] with even gaps: ''The vents are covered with fine steel mesh.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Any of the open spaces between the strands of a net or [[sieve]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Something that traps or holds like a net; a complex, entangling situation.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The engagement of the teeth of [[gear]]wheels: ''in mesh''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (computing) A [[network]] in which each node is linked directly to several others.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of gear teeth, to engage with each other.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To fit together or work well together: ''Their two styles of teaching never quite meshed.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # To catch in a net; to [[entangle]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[meshy]]

+ * [[meshed]]

+ * [[enmesh]]

+ * [[inmesh]]

+ * [[intermesh]]

+ * [[meshwork]]

+ * [[synchromesh]]

+ * [[unmesh]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[net]]

+ * [[mask]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}