
a collection of incoherent particles, parts, or objects regarded as forming one body: a mass of sand. assemblage, heap, congeries.
a considerable assemblage, number, or quantity: a mass of errors; a mass of troops. collection, accumulation, pile, conglomeration.
bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness: towers of great mass and strength. magnitude, dimension.
Fine Arts.
the main body, bulk, or greater part of anything: the great mass of American films. majority.
Physics. the quantity of matter as determined from its weight or from Newton's second law of motion. Abbreviation: m Compare weight ( def 2 ), relativistic mass, rest mass.
the masses, the ordinary or common people as a whole; the working classes or the lower social classes. proletariat, plebeians.
pertaining to, involving, or affecting a large number of people: mass unemployment; mass migrations; mass murder.
participated in or performed by a large number of people, especially together in a group: mass demonstrations; mass suicide.
pertaining to, involving, or characteristic of the mass of the people: the mass mind; a movie designed to appeal to a mass audience.
reaching or designed to reach a large number of people: television, newspapers, and other means of mass communication.
done on a large scale or in large quantities: mass destruction.
verb (used without object)
to come together in or form a mass or masses: The clouds are massing in the west.
verb (used with object)
to gather into or dispose in a mass or masses; assemble: The houses are massed in blocks. collect, marshal, amass, aggregate. disperse.

1350–1400; Middle English masse < Latin massa mass < Greek mâza barley cake, akin to mássein to knead

massedly [mas-id-lee, mast-lee] , adverb
unmassed, adjective

massed, mast.

5. See size1. Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
mass (mæs)
1.  a large coherent body of matter without a definite shape
2.  a collection of the component parts of something
3.  a large amount or number, such as a great body of people
4.  the main part or majority: the mass of the people voted against the government's policy
5.  in the mass in the main; collectively
6.  the size of a body; bulk
9.  pharmacol a pastelike composition of drugs from which pills are made
10.  mining an irregular deposit of ore not occurring in veins
11.  done or occurring on a large scale: mass hysteria; mass radiography
12.  consisting of a mass or large number, esp of people: a mass meeting

Mass (mæs, mɑːs)
1.  High Mass See also Low Mass (in the Roman Catholic Church and certain Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

"lump, quantity, size," c.1400, from O.Fr. masse "lump" (11c.), from L. massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," from Gk. maza "barley cake, lump, mass, ball," related to massein "to knead," from PIE base *mag-/*meg- "to knead" (cf. Lith. minkyti "to knead," see
macerate). Sense extended 1580s to "a large quantity, amount, or number." Strict sense in physics is from 1704. Mass meeting is first attested 1733 in Amer.Eng. mass culture is from 1939; mass hysteria is from 1934; mass media is from 1923; mass movement is from 1897; mass production is from 1920. Verb meaning "to gather in a mass" is attested from 1560s. Related: Massed.

"Eucharistic service," O.E. mæsse, from V.L. *messa "eucharistic service," lit. "dismissal," from L.L. missa "dismissal," fem. pp. of mittere "to let go, send," from concluding words of the service, Ite, missa est, "Go, (the prayer) has been sent," or "Go, it is the dismissal."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

mass (mās)

  1. A unified body of matter with no specific shape.


  3. The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.




  7. See massa.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
mass  [%PREMIUM_LINK%]     (mās)  Pronunciation Key 

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

Mass definition



Mass definition



mass definition


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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