Meaning
The word missa, as used in this phrase is understood to be a late-Latin noun, meaning "dismissal":
It is a substantive of a late form for missio. There are many parallels in medieval Latin, collecta, ingressa, confessa, accessa, ascensa—all for forms in -io. It does not mean an offering (mittere, in the sense of handing over to God), but the dismissal of the people, as in the versicle: "Ite missa est" (Go, the dismissal is made).
In recent decades, attempts were made to understand missa in this phrase as meaning "mission" rather than "dismissal", so that the phrase would mean: "Go, you are sent on a mission." This interpretation lacks foundation and corresponds rather to the alternative phrases in the latest edition of the Roman Missal, Ite ad Evangelium Domini nuntiandum (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord) and Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life).
Since in classical Latin, missa is the feminine form of the perfect passive participle of mittere (to send), missa est could be taken to mean: "It has been sent", the "it" being something grammatically feminine in Latin, such as communio (communion), hostia (sacrificial victim), oblatio (offering), Eucharistia (Eucharist). This explanation lacks scholarly supporters.
The official English translation is: "Go forth, the Mass is ended."
Read more about this topic: Ite Missa Est
Famous quotes containing the word meaning:
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Rhyme and meter force gaps in meaning so the muse can enter.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)