massage

Meanings

Noun

• The action of rubbing, kneading or hitting someone's body, to help the person relax, prepare for muscular action (as in contact sports) or to relieve aches.

Verb

• To rub and knead (someone's body or a part of a body), to perform a massage on (somebody).
• To manipulate (data, a document etc.) to make it more presentable or more convenient to work with.
• To falsify (data or accounts).

Related

Narrower meaning words

• Thai massage

Origin

• From French massage, from masser (borrowed around the end of the 18th century from Arabic مَسَّ ("feel, touch"), or from Portuguese amassar) + -age. Cognate to German massieren.