Message Meaning
/ˈmɛs.ɪdʒ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA communication, or what is communicated; any concept or information conveyed.
nounAn underlying theme or conclusion to be drawn from something.
Sentence Examples
I have a message for you from her.
Here is our answer to your fax message dated April 1st.
She left a short message on his phone.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The busy executive quickly checked her phone for a new voice ____ from the important client.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She left a brief ____ on his voicemail asking him to call her back as soon as he had a free moment.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English message, from Old French message, from Early Medieval Latin missāticum, derived from Latin mittere (“send”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (“to exchange”). Partially displaced Old English ærende (whence errand).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I have a message from God unto thee."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 3:20:
"No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
"Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee."
— 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2023, page 55:
"I had been on a message for my father, and was walking home along the road, when I saw a tall, fine lassie coming over the bogland on the right hand side of the road."
— 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 27:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The busy executive quickly checked her phone for a new voice ____ from the important client.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She left a brief ____ on his voicemail asking him to call her back as soon as he had a free moment.