msza (Polish)

Where does "msza" come from?

The Polish word 'msza' finds its ultimate roots in the Proto-Indo-European base '*meyth₂-', meaning 'to change' or 'to exchange'. This root evolved into the Latin 'mittō', which carried the sense of 'to send' or 'to let go'. By the 6th century, the Ecclesiastical Latin term 'missa' emerged as a shorthand for the phrase 'īte missa est', meaning 'the dismissal is made', which marked the end of the liturgical service. From Latin, the word passed into Old High German as 'missa' and Middle High German as 'messe'. It eventually entered the Polish language via Old Czech 'mšě', retaining its specialized meaning as the principal liturgical service or a related musical composition.

Full etymology tree

• msza (Polish), 'Mass (the principal liturgical service)'
  • borrowed mšě (Old Czech)
    • inherited messe (Middle High German), 'Mass'
      • inherited missa (Old High German), 'Mass'
        • borrowed missa (Latin), 'Mass; Christian eucharistic liturgy'
          • derived missiō (Latin), 'sending, mission'
            • compound mittō (Latin), 'to send, dispatch, cause to go, let go, release, discharge'
              • derived mītō (Latin), 'Old Latin form of mittō'
                • inherited *meitō (Proto-Italic), 'to put forth, put out'
                  • inherited *meyth₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to change'
            • suffix -tiō (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'

Ancestors

• messe (Middle High German)
• missa (Old High German)
• missa (Latin)
• mitto (Latin)
• *meyth₂- (Proto-Indo-European)

Descendants and derived words

• імша (Belarusian)
• meszne (Polish)
• meszne (Polish)
• meszne (Polish)
• żałomsza (Polish)

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris