Dictionary

black mass en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A ritual, allegedly celebrated by witches, characterized by the inversion of the Traditional Latin Mass celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church.
   • Generals gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses 1970, “War Pigs”, in Paranoid, performed by Black Sabbath:
   • An enormous number of monks and priests gave themselves up to sorcery, and there was no lack of apostate priests to perform the ceremonies of the Black Mass. 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 101:
   • Local lore held that the quarry had once been the site of black masses.
   • As a parish priest in England he had dabbled in the black arts, seduced a number of his congregation from their faith and finally celebrated the Black Mass. 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 30:
   • Elmos and Maureen had draped their room in some old purple rags and were about to start a black mass when the police arrived. 1970, Kevin Mackey, The Cure: Recollections of an Addict, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1972, page 93:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see black, mass; especially, a dark amorphous blob.
   • The paranormal investigators then aimed their cameras in the direction from which the black mass had been seen emerging.

Forms

Relateds

black Sabbath · Black Mass · black art · black magic

Translations (8)

vi tà lễ (Translations) · de Schwarze Messe (Translations) · ga aifreann dubh (Translations) · ca missa negra (Translations) · it messa nera (Translations) · cy offeren ddu (Translations) · pl czarna msza (Translations) · sv svart mässa (Translations)