massy

massy

English

Etymology

From Middle English massy; equivalent to mass +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmæsi/
• Rhymes: -æsi

Adjective

massy (comparative massier, superlative massiest)

1. Heavy; massive.
   • 1587, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great

     Their plumed helms are wrought with beaten gold, / Their swords enamell'd, and about their necks / Hang massy chains of gold down to the waist;

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book V, lines 627 to 635.

     […] Evening now approach'd / (For we have also our evening and our morn, / We ours for change delectable, not need). / Forthwith from dance to sweet repast they turn / Desirous; all in circles as they stood, . TAbles are set, and on a sudden piled / With angels' food; and rubied nectar flows/ In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold, / Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of heaven.

   • 1874 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Heroic

     When mountains tremble, those two massy pillars / With horrible convulsion to and fro

   • 2003 October 5-8, J. A. Kosinski, 2003 IEEE Symposium on Ultrasonics, volume 1, →ISBN, abstract, pages 70-73

     We develop a set of six coupled equations governing the modal amplitudes and phase angles (mode-center offsets) for the flat, piezoelectric plate resonator with massy electrodes of unequal thickness.

Noun

massy

1. Eye dialect spelling of mercy.
   • 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

     "But Lors ha' massy, how did you get near such mud as that?" said Sally, ...

2. Eye dialect spelling of master.

Anagrams

• SyAMs, Sysmä, amyss, my ass

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From masse +‎ -y.

Alternative forms

• masse, mascy, masie, masy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmasiː/, /ˈmaseː/

Adjective

massy

1. weighty, massy, having great weight.
2. uncontaminated, unalloyed.
3. Not hollow; lacking an internal cavity.
4. tough, firm, sturdy
5. (rare) Unsculpted; not given a shape, primordial.

Related terms

• massif

Descendants

• English: massy
• Scots: massie

References

• “massī (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-27.

Etymology 2

From a mixture of Old French messiier and Old English mæssian.

Verb

massy

1. Alternative form of messen (“to hold mass”)