Michaelmas termMichaelmas term

The story

From Michaelmas + term; Michaelmas is from Michael (‘the name of the biblical archangel’) + -mas (suffix indicating a holiday or sacred day), meaning the feast day of St Michael. Michael is derived from Late Latin Michahel, from Koine Greek Μιχαήλ (Mikhaḗl), from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, “who is like God?”); while -mas is from mass, from Middle English masse, from Old English mæsse (‘mass (celebration of the Eucharist)’), from Vulgar Latin *messa (‘Eucharist; dismissal’), from Late Latin missa, a noun use of the feminine past participle of Latin mittere, the present active infinitive of mittō (‘to dispatch, send; to discharge, release; to dismiss’), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂- (‘to exchange’).