Jump To:

• mass
  mass

  noun

  a body of coherent matter, usually of indefinite shape and often of considerable size.
• Mass
  Mass

  noun

  the celebration of the Eucharist.
• Mass.
  Mass.

  abbreviation

  Massachusetts.

Trivia Time

Which scientist is famous for linking mass and energy?

Test Your Knowledge

mass

¹ American  

[mas] / mæs /

noun

• masses
  plural

1. a body of coherent matter, usually of indefinite shape and often of considerable size.

   a mass of dough.

2. Medicine/Medical, Pathology. an abnormal lump in the body, often in the form of a cyst or tumor.

   The mass they removed was alarmingly large, but the great news is that it was benign.

3. a collection of incoherent particles, parts, or objects regarded as forming one body.

   a mass of sand.

   Synonyms:

   congeries, heap, assemblage

4. aggregate; whole (usually preceded byin the ).

   People, in the mass, mean well.

5. a considerable assemblage, number, or quantity: a mass of troops.

   a mass of errors;

   a mass of troops.

   Synonyms:

   conglomeration, pile, accumulation, collection

6. bulk, size, expanse, or massiveness.

   towers of great mass and strength.

   Synonyms:

   dimension, magnitude

7. Fine Arts.

   1. Painting. an expanse of color or tone that defines form or shape in general outline rather than in detail.

   2. a shape or three-dimensional volume that has or gives the illusion of having weight, density, and bulk.

8. the main body, bulk, or greater part of anything.

   the great mass of American films.

   Synonyms:

   majority

9. Physics. the quantity of matter as determined from its weight or from Newton's second law of motion. m

10. Pharmacology. a preparation of thick, pasty consistency, from which pills are made.

11. the masses, the ordinary or common people as a whole; the working classes or the lower social classes.

    Synonyms:

    plebeians, proletariat

---

adjective

1. 1. pertaining to, involving, or affecting a large number of people.

      mass unemployment;

      mass migrations.

   2. affecting a number of people, but more than two and typically a large number: a mass shooting.

      mass murder;

      a mass shooting.

2. participated in or performed by a large number of people, especially together in a group: mass suicide.

   mass demonstrations;

   mass suicide.

3. pertaining to, involving, or characteristic of the mass of the people: a movie designed to appeal to a mass audience.

   the mass mind;

   a movie designed to appeal to a mass audience.

4. reaching or designed to reach a large number of people.

   television, newspapers, and other means of mass communication.

5. done on a large scale or in large quantities.

   mass destruction.

verb (used without object)

• masses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• massed,
  past participle,  past
• massing
  present participle

1. to come together in or form a mass or masses.

   The clouds are massing in the west.

verb (used with object)

• masses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• massed,
  past participle,  past
• massing
  present participle

1. to gather into or dispose in a mass or masses; assemble.

   The houses are massed in blocks.

   Synonyms:

   aggregate, amass, marshal, collect

   Antonyms:

   disperse

Mass ² American  

[mas] / mæs /

noun

1. the celebration of the Eucharist.

2. (sometimes lowercase) a musical setting of certain parts of this service, as the Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.

---

Mass. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Massachusetts.

---

mass ¹ British  

/ mæs /

noun

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 main; collectively

6. the size of a body; bulk

7. physics a physical quantity expressing the amount of matter in a body. It is a measure of a body's resistance to changes in velocity (inertial mass) and also of the force experienced in a gravitational field (gravitational mass): according to the theory of relativity, inertial and gravitational masses are equal See also inertial mass gravitational mass

8. (in painting, drawing, etc) an area of unified colour, shade, or intensity, usually denoting a solid form or plane

9. pharmacol a pastelike composition of drugs from which pills are made

10. mining an irregular deposit of ore not occurring in veins

---

1. done or occurring on a large scale

   mass hysteria

   mass radiography

2. consisting of a mass or large number, esp of people

   a mass meeting

verb

1. to form (people or things) or (of people or things) to join together into a mass

   the crowd massed outside the embassy

Mass. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Massachusetts

---

Mass ³ British  

/ mæs, mɑːs /

noun

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

2. a musical setting of those parts of the Eucharistic service sung by choir or congregation

---

mass Scientific  

/ măs /

1. A measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body. In classical mechanics, the mass of an object is related to the force required to accelerate it and hence is related to its inertia, and is essential to Newton's laws of motion. Objects that have mass interact with each other through the force of gravity. In Special Relativity, the observed mass of an object is dependent on its velocity with respect to the observer, with higher velocity entailing higher observed mass. Mass is measured in many different units; in most scientific applications, the SI unit of kilogram is used.

2. See Note at weight See also rest energy General Relativity

---

Mass ¹ Cultural  

1. In music, a musical setting for the texts used in the Christian Church at the celebration of the Mass, or sacrament of Communion. Most Masses have been written for use in the Roman Catholic Church.

---

Mass ² Cultural  

1. The common name in the Roman Catholic Church, and among some members of the Anglican Communion, for the sacrament of Communion.

---

mass ³ Cultural  

1. In physics, the property of matter that measures its resistance to acceleration. Roughly, the mass of an object is a measure of the number of atoms in it. The basic unit of measurement for mass is the kilogram. (See Newton's laws of motion; compare weight.)

---

Synonym Usage

See size ¹.

Discover More

Many composers have written Masses; among them are Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Leonard Bernstein, and Duke Ellington.

In the Middle Ages in England, mass meant a religious feast day in honor of a specific person; thus, “Christ's Mass,” or Christmas, is the feast day of Christ; and Michaelmas is the feast day of the angel Michael.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• massed
  adjective
• unmassed
  adjective
• massedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• masses
  plural

Participles

• massing
  present
• massed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mass
  simple
• masses
  simple
• have massed
  perfect
• has massed
  perfect
• am massing
  progressive
• are massing
  progressive
• is massing
  progressive
• have been massing
  perfect progressive
• has been massing
  perfect progressive

Past

• massed
  simple
• had massed
  perfect
• was massing
  progressive
• were massing
  progressive
• had been massing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mass
  simple
• will have massed
  perfect
• will be massing
  progressive
• will have been massing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mass¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English masse, from Latin massa “mass,” from Greek mâza “barley cake,” akin to mássein “to knead”

Origin of Mass²

First recorded before 900; Middle English masse, Old English mæsse, from Vulgar Latin messa (unrecorded), from Late Latin missa, feminine of Latin missus “sent,” past participle of mittere “to send, dismiss”; perhaps extracted from a phrase in the service containing a feminine subject and missa est “(it) is sent”

Explanation

Anything that has weight and shape has mass. In fact, mass is the quality that gives things weight anywhere there's gravity. If you think about mass being about weight and shape, you can see how many of its meanings are related. If something is very big we say it has great mass — or is massive. If we talk about a large group of people, we talk about a mass demonstration or a mass of demonstrators. We refer to poor or common people as the masses — there are a lot of them. Doctors refer to tumors inside our bodies as masses.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mass Mass Mass. masses massed massing

While mass shootings in the United States are common, they are rare at military facilities.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

L’Oréal’s U.S. subsidiary is working with Weil Gotshal & Manges and Ducera Partners to address mass lawsuits alleging its products caused illness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The abduction in Imo state has caused widespread concern, with mass kidnappings less common in southern Nigeria than in some parts of the north.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength, leads to reduced physical function and mobility.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

I knelt at the edge of my bed, hovering over Fig’s gray mass of fur, afraid of what I might find.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

According to the duo’s label head at Mass MoCA Records, Harlan Steinberger, who joined in the interview, “There’s a whole bunch of stuff circling around that I think led to this gig,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

During Saturday's Mass in Paris, the Pope told worshippers that Catholics should not keep their faith to themselves but "let it overflow so that those you meet may be refreshed".

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

But then she and a friend decided to stay for the Mass as the crowd swelled around her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Donal McKeown has spent the past quarter of a century as a bishop, but on Sunday he will say his final Mass as head of the diocese after 12 years.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

They sat in the front row as Father Pinckney began the Mass for the Dead.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who promised to freeze rent during his campaign, is the most well-known in this category, and there have been wins for renter-candidates in cities like Cambridge, Mass., and Seattle.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

The Chicopee, Mass., company specializes in custom orders but had never made a game tray—or a holder meant to last.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The trio of charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred May 23, 2025, in Chatham, Mass., according to the filing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Jonathan Pearl has kept his home in Marlborough, Mass., even though he has moved out of state for a job opportunity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Lily has gone to Sunday Mass. I have never been left home alone before.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Mencken, the legendary journalist, said: “No one in this world…has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

But a mega brand like Louis Vuitton sells luxury to the masses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

"If these ice masses can be saved or stabilised, we can limit the rise of global sea levels… which could affect billions of people living along the coast."

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Burnt-sienna vines twist through simmering ocher air, while flora sprout through these roiling masses in hues of chromium oxide and cadmium green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

We sit through an overly sentimental video about "huddled masses" and listen to a bulky soprano belt out the words to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

Germany was focused on striking a knockout blow against France in the west, while Austria-Hungary massed its troops against Serbia to the south.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

A day before that incident, hundreds of masked protesters massed in Dover, further east, briefly blocking access to the town's busy Channel port to demonstrate against migrant crossings.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Playing on the title, it opens with a big gospel organ and a massed chorus, before a handbrake turn into lip-smacking rap.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

The frequently drawn parallel is to North Korea’s conventional artillery massed in range of greater Seoul’s 26 million people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Had the bolas come in massed, coordinated onslaughts instead of being wielded by individual soldiers as they thought opportune, Pizarro might well have met his match.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Tankers are already massing outside the Strait to fill up.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026

Thousands of Chinese fishing boats have been massing in geometric formations in the East China Sea, in coordinated actions that experts believe are part of Beijing's preparations for a potential regional crisis or conflict.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

He adapted their simple massing and abstract play of volumes, graced them with a few flourishes of Colonial detail, and served them up to young clients on Long Island and in coastal Massachusetts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

General Oleksandr Syrskyi admitted Russian infantry was massing in the area and said he had visited the frontline himself for talks with key commanders.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025

"The Kingslayer is massing a host at easterly Rock," Ser Rodrik Cassel answered from the room behindher.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

Related Words

• crowd
• group
• horde
• lot
• lump
• majority
• mob
• number
• piece
• pile
• throng