Mass vs. Mess — What's the Difference?

A measure of the amount of matter in an object.

To bring into a disordered or confusing state.

The celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church.

A state of confusion and disorder.

A large number of people or objects gathered together.

Informal or unorganized.

Significant, substantial.

A dirty or untidy state of things or of a place.

A large body of matter with no definite shape.

A meal eaten by a group of people, especially in the military.

Mass is both a property of a physical body and a measure of its resistance to acceleration (rate of change of velocity with respect to time) when a net force is applied. An object's mass also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies.

The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is an area where military personnel socialize, eat, and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the Officers' mess, the CPOs' mess, and the Enlisted mess.

The celebration of the Christian Eucharist, especially in the Roman Catholic Church

A cluttered, untidy, usually dirty place or condition

Involving or affecting large numbers of people or things

Something that is disorderly or dirty, as a accumulation or heap

Assemble or cause to assemble into a single body or mass

A confused, troubling, or embarrassing condition or situation

Public celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant churches.

One that is in such a condition

The sacrament of the Eucharist.

An amount of food, as for a meal, course, or dish

A musical setting of certain parts of the Mass, especially the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

A serving of soft, semiliquid food

A unified body of matter with no specific shape

A group of people, usually soldiers or sailors, who regularly eat meals together.

A grouping of individual parts or elements that compose a unified body of unspecified size or quantity

Food or a meal served to such a group

A large but nonspecific amount or number

A mess hall.

A lump or aggregate of coherent material

To make disorderly or dirty

The principal part; the majority

To cause or make a mess.

The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.

To intrude; interfere

Abbr. m(Physics) A property of matter equal to the measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body that partly determines the body's resistance to changes in the speed or direction of its motion. The mass of an object is not dependent on gravity and therefore is different from but proportional to its weight.

To take a meal in a military mess.

An area of unified light, shade, or color in a painting.

A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding.

(Pharmacology) A thick, pasty mixture containing drugs from which pills are formed.

(colloquial) A large quantity or number.

Masses The body of common people or people of low socioeconomic status

(euphemistic) Excrement.

To gather or be gathered into a mass.

(figuratively) A person in a state of (especially emotional) turmoil or disarray; an emotional wreck.

Of, relating to, characteristic of, directed at, or attended by a large number of people

(obsolete) Mass; a church service.

Done or carried out on a large scale

(archaic) A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; also, the food given to an animal at one time.

Total; complete

(collective) A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common, especially military personnel who eat at the same table.

(physical) Matter, material.

A building or room in which mess is eaten.

A quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size.

A set of four from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner.

(obsolete) Precious metal, especially gold or silver.

(US) The milk given by a cow at one milking.

(physics) The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective of its bulk or volume. It is one of four fundamental properties of matter. SI unit of mass: kilogram.

(collective) A group of iguanas.

(pharmaceutical drug) A medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills; as, blue mass.

(cooking) A dessert of fruit and cream, similar to a fool.

(medicine) A palpable or visible abnormal globular structure; a tumor.

(transitive, often used with "up") To make untidy or dirty.

(bodybuilding) Excess body weight, especially in the form of muscle hypertrophy.

To make soiled by defecating.

(proscribed) weight

To make soiled by ejaculating.

A large quantity; a sum.

(transitive, often used with "up") To throw into disorder or to ruin.

Bulk; magnitude; body; size.

(intransitive) To interfere.

The principal part; the main body.

(used with "with") To screw around with, to bother, to be annoying to.

A large body of individuals, especially persons.

(intransitive) To take meals with a mess.

(in the plural) The lower classes of persons.

(intransitive) To belong to a mess.

(Christianity) The Eucharist, now especially in Roman Catholicism.

(intransitive) To eat (with others).

(Christianity) Celebration of the Eucharist.

(transitive) To supply with a mess.

The sacrament of the Eucharist.

Mass; church service.

A musical setting of parts of the mass.

A quantity of food set on a table at one time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time.

(transitive) To form or collect into a mass; to form into a collective body; to bring together into masses; to assemble.

A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared in common; especially, persons in the military or naval service who eat at the same table; as, the wardroom mess.

(intransitive) To assemble in a mass

A set of four; - from the old practice of dividing companies into sets of four at dinner.

To celebrate mass.

The milk given by a cow at one milking.

Involving a mass of things; concerning a large quantity or number.

A disagreeable mixture or confusion of things; hence, a situation resulting from blundering or from misunderstanding; as, he made a mess of it.

Involving a mass of people; of, for, or by the masses.

To take meals with a mess; to belong to a mess; to eat (with others); as, I mess with the wardroom officers.

The sacrifice in the sacrament of the Eucharist, or the consecration and oblation of the host.

To supply with a mess.

The portions of the Mass usually set to music, considered as a musical composition; - namely, the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei, besides sometimes an Offertory and the Benedictus.

To make a mess{5} of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble; to disturb; to mess up.

A quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body, or an aggregation of particles or things which collectively make one body or quantity, usually of considerable size; as, a mass of ore, metal, sand, or water.

A state of confusion and disorderliness;

A medicinal substance made into a cohesive, homogeneous lump, of consistency suitable for making pills; as, blue mass.

Informal terms for a difficult situation;

A large quantity; a sum.

Soft semiliquid food;

Bulk; magnitude; body; size.

A meal eaten by service personnel

The principal part; the main body.

A (large) military dining room where service personnel eat or relax

The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective of its bulk or volume.

(often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent;

To celebrate Mass.

Eat in a mess hall

To form or collect into a mass; to form into a collective body; to bring together into masses; to assemble.

Make a mess of or create disorder in;

The property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field

(often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent;

An ill-structured collection of similar things (objects or people)

(Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches) the celebration of the Eucharist

A body of matter without definite shape;

The common people generally;

The property of something that is great in magnitude;

A musical setting for a Mass;

A sequence of prayers constituting the Christian eucharistic rite;

Join together into a mass or collect or form a mass;

Occurring widely (as to many people);

Gathered or tending to gather into a mass or whole;

In physics, mass refers to the amount of matter in an object, influencing its gravitational force and inertia.

In the military, a mess is the place where military personnel eat or the meal itself.

Typically, mess refers to disorder, but it can have a positive, informal sense in contexts like a lively, messy party.

Mass is measured in units such as kilograms or pounds.

It implies causing disorder or making a situation more complicated or dirty.

Yes, the mass of an object remains constant regardless of its location, unlike weight which can vary with gravity.

Types include inertial mass, gravitational mass, and rest mass, each playing different roles in physics.

Yes, mess can refer to any informal meal, though it's most commonly used in military contexts.

Cleaning a mess involves organizing, tidying, and often sanitizing the disordered or dirty area.

No, mess can also refer to situations or abstract concepts that are confusing or poorly managed.

Yes, mass can describe a large amount or number, indicating something substantial or significant.

Mass is measured using scales and balances in units like kilograms, which are part of the International System of Units.

In Catholicism, Mass is the celebration of the Eucharist, a central act of worship.

While often negative, mess can be used affectionately or humorously to describe lively and chaotic situations.

In the military, a mess officer is responsible for managing the dining facility and food services for personnel.