▪ I. massy, a.
(ˈmæsɪ)
Also 4 massee, 4, 6 massye, 5 massi, 6–8 massie, -ey.
[f. mass n.2 + -y. In early instances perh. a. OF. massi, massis, masseïs, f. masse with suffix repr. L. -ītus, -īcius, -ātīcius.
Formerly in common use; now rhetorical or arch.; in ordinary prose use superseded by massive.]
1. Full of substance or ‘mass’. a. Solid and weighty; heavy as consisting of compact matter. Said esp. of the precious metals: Occurring in mass; wrought in solid pieces, without hollow or alloy.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. l. 10 As a massee vessel of gold. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. vii. (1495) 555 The syluer compownyd is massy & sad. c 1470 Henryson Fab. (Son of Fox) in Anglia IX. 368 The leopardis come with croun of massie gold. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius L v, He founde in that citie an incredible treasure .L.M. talentes of massy silver uncoyned. 1598 Drayton Heroic. Ep. ii 80, I can march all day in massie Steele. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III) 175 There are none now but poor Gentlemen that will offer to weare the Massiest silver lace. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. iii, A great quantity of massy old plate. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. Introd. 33 Whose ponderous grate and massy bar Had oft [etc.]. 1853 Macaulay Biog., Atterbury (1867) 10 An inestimable treasure of massy bullion. 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile i. 20 Seen in certain lights, the Pyramids look like piles of massy gold. |
† b. gen. Solid, not hollow. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxxviii. 7 And thilk auter was not massye [Vulg. solidum], but holwȝ of tabled thingis, and with ynne voyde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 328/2 Massy, noȝt hole, solidus. 1673 Phil. Trans. VIII. 6004 By cramming into them many Crystal-bullets, both hollow and massy ones. |
† c. Solid, having three dimensions. Applied to sculptures, as opposed to paintings on the flat.
| 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Def., By Depenesse..I meane the massie thicknesse of any bodie, as in exaumple of a potte. 1571 Digges Pantom., Math. Disc. Hh ij, A Transformed Dodecaedron is a massie or solide figure. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. xviii. 167 Rejecting carved or massie images, but admitting the painted. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. 331 Abhorring the use of massy statues. |
d. Close, compact, dense (in texture or consistency). ? Obs.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 37 b, They that haue massye bonys neuer swete or thristethe. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 33 It is nothing solid or massie, but much porouse. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Romulus (1595) 39 A grosse vapour, darke & massie. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric I. 428 The more massy sorts of manure. 1814 Cary Dante, Paradise xiii. 6 Stars,..that, with lively ray serene, O'ercome the massiest air. |
2. Consisting of a large mass or masses of heavy material; having great size and weight. Of buildings: Consisting of great blocks or piles of masonry.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay i. 2 Yee see..the Earth altogether heavie and massie, and yet notwithstanding..hanged in y⊇ Aire. 1660 Pepys Diary 26 Apr., It was very pleasant to observe the massy timbers that the ship is made of. 1775 A. M. Toplady Let. Wks. 1828 VI. 270 He hurled the massy folio at the poor bookseller's head. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, A massy oaken table. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. III. 422 The massy remains of the old Norman castle. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiii. 40 The rude seas, earth's massy solidity. |
b. Of architecture: Presenting great masses.
| 1819 Shelley Let. Pr. Wks. 1880 IV. 85 The proportions are extremely massy. 1846 Grote Greece i. xx. (1862) I. 498 The massy and Cyclopian style of architecture employed in those early days. |
3. Spreading in a mass or in masses; having considerable bulk or volume.
| 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 68 Stragling by Temple-bar, in a massy Cassock and Surcingle. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 669 Deep in the night the massy locust sheds Quench my hot limbs. 1812 Brackenridge Views Louisiana (1814) 112 The foliage of the corn is so rich and massy, that it shades the earth. a 1834 Lamb Reynolds Gallery Misc. Wks. (1871) 367 The long, graceful, massy fingers. 1839 Alison Hist. Europe liv. §53 (1850) VIII. 610 Their infantry in four massy columns was observed to be descending. |
b. Of persons and animals: Bulky, large-bodied.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3885 He was massy & mekull, made for þe nonest. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass 11 The massier and more gyantly body must be maintained with large..diet. a 1667 Cowley Ess., Greatness, He would have no Servants, but huge, massy Fellows. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. lxxx, There were some massy members of the Church. 1849 H. Miller Footpr. Creat. vi. (1874) 119 One of the massier fishes disporting amid the same four or five small ones. 1866 Carlyle Remin. i. 255 A..massy, earnest, forcible-looking man. |
4. transf. and fig. (of immaterial things).
| 1588 Greene Perimedes G 2 b, She sits shrind in a Cannapie of Clouds, Whose massie darkenesse mazeth euery sense. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1851 IV. 215 The most grosse and massy paradox that ever did violence to reason and religion. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. ix. (1668) 46 How solid and massy those future enjoyments are. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho viii, She turned her eyes from the massy darkness of the woods. 1822–56 De Quincey Confess. (1862) 155 It cost eight-and-twenty massy hours for us..to reach the General Post-office. 1840 ― Th. Grk. Trag. Wks. IX. 72 The dialogue [of Greek tragedy] is always..severe, massy, simple. |
5. Comb., as massy proof adj.
| 1632 Milton Penseroso 158 With antick Pillars massy proof. 1788 Warton Ode for New Year 1 Rude was the pile, and massy proof. |
Sense 5 in Dict. becomes 6. Add: 5. Physics. Having significant or non-zero mass. Cf. massive a. 1 *g, *h.
| 1961 in Webster. 1962 V. Lowe Understanding Whitehead i. iv. 18 In the Newtonian physics a massy particle had its location altered by other particles in the universe, but not its essential nature. 1978 Ann. Physics CXV. 78 Quantum creation of massy particles can occur in the cosmological context without cost of energy. 1979 Sci. Amer. Jan. 100/1 Like a springy support, a massy support does not damp the motion of the string. 1980 Ibid. Apr. 100/2 Radiation theorists were able to calculate a new fundamental quantity: the ratio of the number of photons (the massless particles of electromagnetic radiation) in the universe to the number of nucleons (the massy protons and neutrons). |
▪ II. massy
Eng. and U.S. dial. var. of mercy n. 4.
| 1817 A. Royall Lett. from Alabama (1830) ix. 22 Massy upon me! 1867 W. F. Rock Jim an' Nell 31 Law! massy, Jim. 1884 J. C. Egerton Sussex Folk & Ways 41 ‘Massy!’ she said, ‘the girls nowadays don't know naun about work!’ 1905 Dialect Notes III. 17 Massy sakes! sakes alive! interj. All feminine exclamations. 1944 H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 380/1 Massy = mercy. |