2. (Zoöl.) The ventral piece of the middle segment of the thorax in
insects.
Mes`o*tar*tar"ic (?), a. [Meso- + tartaric.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or
designating, an acid called also inactive tartaric acid.
||Mes`o*the"ca (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. me`sos middle + &?; box.] (Zoöl.)
||The middle layer of the gonophore in the Hydrozoa.
||Mes`o*the"li*um (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. me`sos middle + E. epithelium.]
||(Biol.) Epithelial mesoderm; a layer of cuboidal epithelium cells,
||formed from a portion of the mesoderm during the differetiation of
||the germ layers. It constitutes the boundary of the cœlum.
Mes`o*tho*rac"ic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the mesothorax.
Mes`o*tho"rax (?), n. [Meso- + thorax: cf. F. mésothorax.] (Zoöl.) The
middle segment of the thorax in insects. See Illust. of Coleoptera.
Mes"o*tro`chal (?), a. [Meso- + Gr. &?; anything round, a hoop.]
(Zoöl.) Having the middle of the body surrounded by bands of cilia; --
said of the larvæ of certain marine annelids.
Mes"o*type (?), n. [Meso- + - type: cf. F. mésotype.] (Min.) An old
term covering natrolite or soda mesolite, scolecite or lime mesotype,
and mesolite or lime-soda mesotype.
||Mes`o*va"ri*um (?), n. [NL. See Meso-, and Ovary.] (Anat.) The fold
||of peritoneum connecting the ovary with the wall of the abdominal
||cavity.
Mes*ox"a*late (?), n. (Chem.) A salt of mesoxalic acid.
Mes`ox*al"ic (?), a. [Mes- + oxalic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or
designating, an acid, CH2O2(CO2H)2, obtained from amido malonic acid.
||Mes`o*zo"a (?), n. pl. [NL. See Mesozoic.] (Zoöl.) A group of very
||lowly organized, wormlike parasites, including the Dicyemata. They
||are found in cephalopods. See Dicyemata.
Mes`o*zo"ic (?), a. [Meso- + Gr. &?; life, fr. &?; to live.] (Geol.)
Belonging, or relating, to the secondary or reptilian age, or the era
between the Paleozoic and Cenozoic. See Chart of Geology.
Mes`o*zo"ic, n. The Mesozoic age or formation.
Mes*prise" (?), n. [OF. mespris, F. mépris. See Misprize.] 1. Contempt;
scorn. [Obs.]
2. [Perh. for F. méprise mistake. Cf. Misprision.] Misadventure;
ill-success. [Obs.] Spenser.
{ Mes*qui"te (ms*k"t), Mes*quit" (ms*kt") }, n. [Sp. mezquite; said to
be a Mexican Indian word.] (Bot.) A name for two trees of the
southwestern part of North America, the honey mesquite, and screw-pod
mesquite.
Honey mesquite. See Algaroba (b). -- Screw-pod mesquite, a smaller tree
(Prosopis pubescens), having spiral pods used as fodder and sometimes
as food by the Indians. -- Mesquite grass, a rich native grass in
Western Texas (Bouteloua oligostachya, and other species); -- so called
from its growing in company with the mesquite tree; -- called also
muskit grass, grama grass.
Mess (?), n. Mass; church service. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Mess (?), n. [OE. mes, OF. mets, LL. missum, p. p. of mittere to put,
place (e. g., on the table), L. mittere to send. See Mission, and cf.
Mass religious service.] 1. A quantity of food set on a table at one
time; provision of food for a person or party for one meal; as, a mess
of pottage; also, the food given to a beast at one time.
At their savory dinner set Of herbs and other country messes.
Milton.
2. A number of persons who eat together, and for whom food is prepared
in common; especially, persons in the military or naval service who eat
at the same table; as, the wardroom mess. Shak.
3. A set of four; -- from the old practice of dividing companies into
sets of four at dinner. [Obs.] Latimer.