EuroLex/F/Massage


 * Original language: French
 * Original form and meaning: massage - 1. massage

(Note: If the status is not specifically indicated then the word is stylistically neutral and generally used; if earlier meaning and status equals current use the former may be expressed by writing "dito". Cf. also the project guidelines.)

Annotations
Etymology: from F massage "friction of kneading", from masser "to massage", possibly from Ar massa "to touch, feel, handle"; if so, probably picked up in Egypt during the Napoleonic campaign there. Other possibility is that F got it in colonial India from Port amassar "knead", a verb from L massa "mass, dough".

The verb is attested from 1887.

Masseur, fem. masseuse, both dating to 1876, are from Fr. masser. Massage parlor first attested 1913, from the start a euphemism for "house of prostitution".

Source: http://www.etymonline.com/

Information on Other Languages
Finnish: noun: hieronta; verb: hieroa