# mash

> English word · Noun · IPA /mæʃ/ · frequency rank #13,954

## Definitions
1. A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state.
2. Ground or bruised malt, or meal of rye, wheat, corn, or other grain (or a mixture of malt and meal) steeped and stirred in hot water for making the wort.
3. Mashed potatoes.
4. A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals.
5. A mess; trouble.

## Etymology
From Middle English mash, from Old English mǣsċ, māsċ, māx, from Proto-Germanic *maiskaz, *maiskō (“mixture, mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-, *meyḱ- (“to mix”). Akin to German Meisch, Maische (“mash”), (compare meischen, maischen (“to mash, wash”)), Swedish mäsk (“mash”), and to Old English miscian (“to mix”). See mix.

## Easily confused with
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-ms)
- **MH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mh)
- **may** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-may)
- **Mrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mrs)
- **max** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-max)
- **MPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mps)
- **mph** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mph)
- **mat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mat)
- **MoS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mos)
- **meh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-meh)
- **MSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-msm)
- **MSG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-msg)
- **MSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-msp)
- **Mau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mau)
- **mes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mes)
- **MSN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-msn)
- **maw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-maw)
- **MCS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mcs)
- **MMS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-mms)
- **MSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mash-vs-msa)

## Common misspellings (6)
`amsh`, `mahs`, `mashh`, `massh`, `mmash`, `msah`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mash