miss-, -miss, -mis-, -mit, -mitt-

1. To allow to enter; grant entry to.
2. To cause or to permit to enter; to introduce or to admit.

1. The act of manumitting, or of liberating a slave from bondage.
2. The act or process of manumitting; especially: the formal liberation of a slave.
3. To free from slavery or bondage.

Manumission is the act of freeing a slave, done at the will of the owner of the slave. The term is from Middle English and is derived from the Latin manumittere. The act of manumission dates back to ancient Rome. Popes, emperors, and minor landholders; all were counted among those who practiced it.

During the Middle Ages serfs were freed through a form of manumission which was a process that differed from time-to-time and from lord-to-lord. High productivity, loyal service, or even buying their way out of service were all reasons for which slaves or serfs received their freedom under manumission.

In ancient Rome, freed slaves were not "freeborn" and were still required to grovel in the presence of their former masters. During the Middle Ages serfs, who had obtained their freedom and farmland, would often give up their land in troubled times in exchange for the protection of their former feudal masters. In times of bad harvest, serfs could find themselves, once again, attached to the land of a noble for lack of any other means of survival.

For these reasons, manumission is not the same as emancipation, the freeing of slaves by an act of government (for example, at the end of the American Civil War).

To free from slavery or bondage; to emancipate.

1. Public celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant churches.
2. The sacrament of the Eucharist.
3. A musical setting of certain parts of the Mass; especially, the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

From Ecclesiastical Latin missa, past participle of mittere, "to send" (away); so called from the words of dismissal at the end of the service: Ite, missa est, "Go, (the congregation) is dismissed" or "Go, it (the prayer) has been sent." The phrase in Latin has also been interpreted to mean: "Go, it is the dismissal" or "Go, dismissed."

To repeat, the phrase ite, missa est refers to the dismissal of the congregation at the end of the Mass with this literal translation: "Go, it has been sent on its way" or "Go, the mass is ended."

1. A dirty or untidy condition: "Our apartment was left in a terrible mess after the party."
2. A chaotic, confused, or troublesome state or situation: "The government plan turned out to be a complete mess."
3. Someone, or something, in a confused, dirty, or untidy condition.
4. A place where, or a time when, a group of people; especially, members of the military forces, have meals together.
5. A serving, or quantity, of food; especially, of soft or soggy food.
6. Etymology: "food for one meal, pottage", from Old French mes, "portion of food, course at dinner"; from Late Latin missus, "course at dinner"; literally, "placing, putting (on a table, etc.)"; from mittere, "to put, to place"; from Latin mittere. "to send, to let go".

The sense of "mixed food" led to the contemptuous use for "jumble, mixed mass" (1828), and the figurative sense of "the state of confusion" (1834), as well as "a condition of untidiness" (1851).

The meaning "communal eating place"; especially, a military one, is first known in 1536, from an earlier sense of "company of people eating together" (c.1420); originally, a group of four.

Messy or "untidy" is from 1843. To mess with, "to interfere, to get involved" is from 1903; mess up, "make a mistake, get in trouble" is from 1933, both originally, colloquial American English.

1. A usually short communication transmitted by words, signals, or other means from one person, station, or group to another.
2. The substance of such a communication; the point or points conveyed; such as, "He gestured to a waiter, who got the message and brought the bill."
3. A statement made or read before a gathering: "A retiring coach's farewell message."
4. A basic thesis or lesson; a moral: a play with a message.

1. In the Roman Catholic Church, a book containing all the prayers and responses necessary for celebrating the Mass throughout the year.
2. A prayer book.

1. An object or weapon that is fired, thrown, dropped, or otherwise projected at a target; a projectile.
2. A guided missile.
3. A ballistic missile.

1. A special task given to a person or group to carry out.
2. An objective or task that somebody believes it is his or her duty to carry out or to which he or she attaches special importance and devotes special care.
3. A single flight or voyage of a military aircraft or a spacecraft.
4. A group of people sent to a country to represent their government, a business, or other organization.
5. A permanent diplomatic delegation in another country.
6. A body of people sent by a church to another part of the country or to a foreign country to spread their faith or do medical and social work.
7. A campaign of religious work, often including community aid at home or abroad, carried out by a church.
8. A building or group of buildings belonging to a missionary organization>
9. A center run by a religious or charitable organization offering food, shelter, aid, and spiritual comfort to needy people.
10. A body of persons sent to a foreign land by a religious organization, especially a Christian organization, to spread its faith or provide educational, medical, and other assistance.

1. Someone who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country.
2. Someone who attempts to persuade or convert others to a particular program, doctrine, or set of principles; a propagandist.
3. Of or relating to missions or missionaries.
4. Engaged in the activities of a mission or missionary.
5. Tending to propagandize or use insistent persuasion: missionary fervor.

A letter or other written communication, often a formal or legal communication.

Characterized by tolerance, undogmatic, undogmatical; "although favoring European unity he was noncommital about the form it should take".