mease
/miːz/noun, verb
mease is spelled M-E-A-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 42 million words in written English, the 199,120th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mease means “A measure of varying quantity, often five or six (long or short) hundred, used especially when counting herring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mease is meases.
How many letters and syllables are in mease?
| Letters | 5: M-E-A-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 42 million words; the 199,120th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mease?
Mease appears about once in every 42 million words in written English, the 199,120th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mease?
- /miːz/
Mease has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of mease
- meases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- measing participle, present
- meased participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mease mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKdatedA measure of varying quantity, often five or six (long or short) hundred, used especially when counting herring.
a mease of herrings
- 2
obsoleteA mess, a mese: a meal.
- 3
obsoleteA dwelling or messuage.
William Raynshaw, of Hulme, in the county of Lancaster, complains that whereas Hamnett Bent was seised in his demesne as of fee of certain meases of land, meadow, and pasture with appurtenances in Hulme […]
verb
- 1
To catch or enmesh (fish) by the head in a seine.
( […] and except also fish meased in the sleeves of certain nets, called seynes), of which no tithes are demanded; […]
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mease come from?
The English Dialect Dictionary suggests Old Norse meiss (“wooden box, as would be used for counting fish”) as a source; The Century Dictionary suggests that the term comes via Old French from a Latin word *mesa (“barrel”). One can also compare German Mass (“measure”) and indeed measure itself.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).