noun · femininefirst declension
massa1
massa f (genitive massae)
Classical[ˈmas.sa]Ecclesiastical[ˈmas.sa]
Meaning
- femininemass, bulk (of material)
- feminineload, burden
- femininedough
- femininelump
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
lump, mass
massa -ae (f) — in De Bello Gallico III
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | massa | massae |
| genitive | massae | massārum |
| dative | massae | massīs |
| accusative | massam | massās |
| ablative | massā | massīs |
| vocative | massa | massae |
massa, ae, f., = μάζα,
I. that which adheres together like dough, a lump, mass (poet. and post-Aug.):
massa picis, Verg. G. 1, 275: salis, Plin. 31, 7, 39, § 78: lactis coacti, cheese, Ov. M. 8, 666: lactis alligati, Mart. 8, 64, 9.—Of metals: versantque tenaci forcipe massam, Verg. A. 8, 453: aeris, Plin. 34, 9, 20, § 97: chalybis, Ov. F. 4, 405: ardens, Juv. 10, 130.—Of money: tum argenti montis, non massas habet: Aetna non aeque altast, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 73.— Absol., of a mass of gold: contactu gleba potenti Massa fit, Ov. M. 11, 112: marmoris, a block of marble: marmor, non in columnis crustisve, sed in massa, Plin. 36, 6, 8, § 49.—Of chaos, Ov. M. 1, 70.—Of a heavy weight, Juv. 6, 421.—Of an indeterminate quantity of land, Inscr. Orell. 4360.Massa, ae, m.,
I. a Roman surname.
1. L. Terentius Massa, Liv. 31, 50; 40, 35. —
3. The name of a slave, Petr. 69.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
māssa ae, f
, μάζα, kneaded dough; hence, a lump, mass: picis, V.: lactis coacti, cheese, O.: versantque tenaci forcipe massam, V.: ardens, Iu.: contactu glaeba potenti Massa fit, i. e. of gold, O.—A heavy weight, mass, load, burden: pressa massā sub illā, etc. (of Chaos), O.: gravis, Iu.
Origins
An early borrowing from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “bread”), possibly via Etruscan. It is uncertain whether the long /aː/ was carried over. Early Latin regularly rendered the Greek sound represented by ⟨ζ⟩ as /ss/; compare patrissō. In Imperial times, when Greek borrowings were entering Latin with ⟨z⟩, the old massa remained, never replaced by *māza.
Gallo-Romance
- Catalanmassa
- Frenchmassefrom Old French masse
- Romanianmasăfrom Old French masse
- Englishmassfrom Old French masse
- Haitian Creolemasfrom Old French masse
Ibero-Romance
- Portuguesemassafrom Old Galician-Portuguese massa
- Spanishmasa
- Englishmasafrom Spanish masa
- Galicianmasafrom Old Galician-Portuguese massa
- Central Bikolmasafrom Spanish masa
- Tagalogmasafrom Spanish masa
Italo-Romance
- Italianmassa
- Judeo-Italianמַאסַה
Elsewhere
- GermanMasse
- Vulgar Latin*massīcius
- Bulgarianмаса
- Crimean Tatarmassa
- Czechmasa
- Afrikaansmassafrom Dutch massa
- Malaymassafrom Dutch massa
- Esperantomasa
- Danishmassefrom German Masse
- Hebrewמָסָה
Serbo-Croatian
- Cyrillic scriptмаса
- Latin scriptmasa