*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of mese

From Middle English mese, mes, mees (“dinner, dish”), from Old English mēse, mēose, mīse, mȳse (“table; that which is set on a table; dish; food, meal”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”). C

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A dinner; meal.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English mese, mes, mees (“dinner, dish”), from Old English mēse, mēose, mīse, mȳse (“table; that which is set on a table; dish; food, meal”), a vernacular loan from Latin/Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”). Cognate with Scots mes, mese (“a serving of food”), Old High German mias, meas (German Mus, Gemüse), Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐍃 (mēs). Compare Old English mēsan (“to eat, dine”), from Proto-Germanic *mōsijaną, from Proto-Germanic *mōsą, an ablaut variant of the root Proto-Germanic *mat- (“food”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "mese"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English mese"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "mēse"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English mēse"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-lat",
        "3": "mēnsa",
        "4": "mē(n)sa",
        "t": "table; meal"
      },
      "expansion": "Late Latin mē(n)sa (“table; meal”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "mes"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots mes"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "mias"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German mias"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌼𐌴𐍃"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌼𐌴𐍃 (mēs)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "mēsan",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to eat, dine"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English mēsan (“to eat, dine”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*mōsijaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mōsijaną"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*mōsą"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mōsą"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*matiz",
        "4": "*mat-",
        "5": "food"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *mat- (“food”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "mese",
      "mese#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "mes",
      "mes#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "mees",
      "mees#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "mēse",
      "mese#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mēose",
      "meose#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mīse",
      "mise#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mȳse",
      "myse#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "mē(n)sa",
      "mensa#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "mes",
      "mes#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mese",
      "mese#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "mias",
      "mias#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "meas",
      "meas#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "Mus",
      "Mus#German"
    ],
    [
      "Gemüse",
      "Gemüse#German"
    ],
    [
      "𐌼𐌴𐍃",
      "𐌼𐌴𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "mēsan",
      "mesan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*mōsijaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mōsijaną"
    ],
    [
      "*mōsą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mōsą"
    ],
    [
      "*mat-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/matiz"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A dinner; meal."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "ffa00b35e9e56575a345ae0271153ce8e1a0680eef3575766c1ab0f4305da2e5",
      "rawRecordSha256": "aadac9d9b3ea8d96d0362640cd114d47faa89af8f0e90b027ab47d9d05637309",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 204839
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To moderate; subdue; abate; mollify.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English mesen, of North Germanic origin. More at meek.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionmesenenm
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "mesen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English mesen"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmq"
      },
      "expansion": "North Germanic"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "mesen",
      "mesen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "meek",
      "meek"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To moderate; subdue; abate; mollify."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "b1f48bc80b0c36b14150b15cf1600d64c9fda69c9dcf9e4992f1e2c21f3181be",
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

In Ancient Greek musical theory, the highest-pitched fixed note in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre, always pitched a perfect fourth above the hypate, with two movable notes between them, the parhypate (lower in pitch) and the lichanos (higher in pitch). The mese was lower than the paramese (the lower-pitched fixed note in the farther tetrachord on a lyre) by a ratio of 8:9.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Unadapted borrowing from Latin mesē, from Ancient Greek μέση (mésē, literally “middle [string]”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ubor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "mesē"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from Latin mesē"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "μέση",
        "lit": "middle [string]"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek μέση (mésē, literally “middle [string]”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "mesē",
      "mese#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "μέση",
      "μέση#Ancient_Greek"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "In Ancient Greek musical theory, the highest-pitched fixed note in the nearer tetrachord on a lyre, always pitched a perfect fourth above the hypate, with two movable notes between them, the parhypate (lower in pitch) and the lichanos (higher in pitch). The mese was lower than the paramese (the lower-pitched fixed note in the farther tetrachord on a lyre) by a ratio of 8:9."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "4e2f7b4a4c4e9d2696904cf10db0f2f4d035ef6db4d66e00d965f6f13e930d67",
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

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Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-bWVzZQ