mess [ME] Current senses of mess, ‘a dirty or untidy state’, and ‘a confused situation full of problems’, date only from the 19th century. Back in the Middle Ages a mess was ‘a portion of food’, and especially ‘a portion of liquid or pulpy food’. This is the meaning in the phrase to sell for a mess of pottage [LME] (pottage is soup or stew), which refers to the biblical story, told in Genesis, in which Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob. At medieval banquets diners were divided into small groups, usually of four people, who sat together and were served from the same dishes. Such a group was also a mess [LME], and is still so on board ship and in military canteens. From this developed the sense ‘a place providing meals and recreational facilities for members of the armed forces’ [L18th], as in the officers’ mess.