English · Idiom Historical

number of his mess

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

When a man dies in the army or navy, he is said to "lose the NUMBER OF HIS MESS."

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Mất vị trí trong nhóm

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “number of his mess” mean?

When a man dies in the army or navy, he is said to "lose the NUMBER OF HIS MESS."

Is “number of his mess” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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