Massa

Both borrowed from Italian Massa, from Latin Māssa, from massa (“mass, bulk”). Compare Massey.

Massa (countable and uncountable, plural Massas)

1. (uncountable) A town in Tuscany, Italy.
2. (countable) A surname.

• Masa

Massa pl (plural only)

1. A Chadic ethnic group in Cameroon and Chad.

Massa

1. A Chadic language spoken by the Massa people.

Massa (plural Massas)

1. (chiefly African-American Vernacular or Caribbean) Alternative letter-case form of massa, master, particularly as a form of address.
   • 1885 March 18, "W.", "A War Article", Puck, Vol. XVII, No. 419, p. 45:

     Officer.—"What is the numerical strength of the enemy in our front?"
     Intelligent Contraband.—"Eh, Massa?"
     O.—"How many men has the Confederate General Blank?"
     I. C.—"'Bout forty-leben thousan', Massa."
     O.—"Don't you mean about four thousand?"
     I. C.—"Yes, Massa; dar's 'bout four hundred ob 'em."

   • 1889, Marah Ellis Ryan, Merze..., page 110:

     "I wanted to speak to you about Miss Merze, Rhoda."
     "Yes, Massa Fred."

• masas, samsa, AsAms, Saams, amass, Samas, Assam, Šamaš, msasa

• The town is from Latin Massa.
• The surname is from several places such as Massa Lubrense or Massa di Somma or Massa d'Albe, all from Latin massa (“lump, pile”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmas.sa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -assa
• Hyphenation: Màs‧sa

Massa f

1. Massa (a town in Tuscany, Italy)

Massa m or f by sense

1. a surname

• English: Massa

From massa.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈmaːs.sa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈmas.sa]

Māssa m sg (genitive Māssae); first declension

1. A Roman cognomen — famously held by:
   1. Baebius Massa, a Roman governor
2. Massa (a town in Tuscany, Italy)

First-declension noun, singular only.

Note that the town name also has locative Māssae.

• Māssicus

• “Massa”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “Massa, Baebius”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

From Middle Low German messet, from Old Saxon metisahs, from Proto-West Germanic *matisahs.

Massa n (plural Massasch)

1. knife

Massa m or f by sense

1. a surname, Massa

• IPA^(key): /ˈmasa/ [ˈma.sa]
• Rhymes: -asa
• Syllabification: Mas‧sa

Massa m or f by sense

1. a surname from Italian