The Meaning of En Masse: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of en masse? This article will give you all of the knowledge you need on the word en masse, including its definition, etymology, synonyms and antonyms, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word en masse mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the term en masse is an adjective and adverb that means in a group, as a whole, or all together. In French, this literally translates to “as a mass” or “as a group.” In modern English rules of phonology, English speakers use this Anglo-Norman word as an adverb and adjective. The pronunciation of en masse is ɛn ˈmæs. 

Many different languages also contain words that mean en masse. You may notice that some of these words look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words that retain the same meaning as well as a similar look and sound between languages. These are often formed when two words or languages have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations of en masse is provided by Word Sense.

  •  German: in Massen‎
  •  Spanish: en tromba‎
  •  Mandarin: 集體‎, 集体‎ (jítǐ)
  •  Portuguese: em massa‎
  •  Russian: вме́сте‎, совме́стно‎; в ма́ссе‎, в це́лом‎; целико́м‎; во мно́жестве‎
  •  Maori: pūtere‎, kurupe‎, kōpuni‎
  •  Finnish: yhtenä joukkona‎, yhtenä miehenä‎
  •  Yiddish: צוזאַמען‎
  •  Czech: společně‎, spolu‎
  •  Welsh: efo’i gilydd‎, gyda’i gilydd‎
  •  Cyrillic: за̏једно‎, скупа‎
  •  Khmer: ជាមួយគ្នា‎ (cie muə yɔɔ knie)
  •  Roman: zȁjedno‎, skupa‎
  •  Polish: razem‎
  •  Navajo: tʼáá łaʼ‎
  •  Manx: ry cheilley‎
  •  Vietnamese: cùng nhau‎, với nhau‎
  •  Thai: พร้อม‎ (próm), ด้วยกัน‎ (dûay-gan)
  •  Hungarian: együtt‎
  •  Bokmål: sammen‎
  •  Bengali: একত্র‎ (ekôtrô)
  •  Latvian: kopā‎
  •  Egyptian Arabic: سوا‎ (ma3 ba3d)
  •  Latin: ūnā‎, insimul‎, idipsum‎, inter se‎
  •  Armenian: միասին‎
  •  Belarusian: ра́зам‎, суме́сна‎, супо́льна‎
  •  Luxembourgish: zesummen‎
  •  Macedonian: за́едно‎
  •  Persian: با هم‎ (bâ ham)
  •  Indonesian: bersama‎, sama-sama‎
  •  Urdu: ایک ساتھ‎ (ek sāth), ساتھ‎ (sāth), ساتھ ساتھ‎ (sāth sāth)
  •  Mandarin: 一起‎ (yìqǐ), 共同‎ (gòngtóng), 一同‎ (yītóng)
  •  Walloon: eshonne‎
  •  Icelandic: saman‎
  •  Hebrew: יַחַד‎ (yakhad)
  •  Galician: xunto‎, á vez‎
  •  Azeri: birlikdə‎, bərabər‎
  •  Georgian: ერთობლივად‎
  •  Bulgarian: за́едно‎
  •  Basque: elkarrekin‎
  •  Ukrainian: ра́зом‎, спі́льно‎
  •  Catalan: junt‎
  •  Slovene: skúpaj‎
  •  Maltese: flimkien‎
  •  Nynorsk: saman‎
  •  Esperanto: kune‎
  •  Scots: thegither‎
  •  Lao: ພ້ອມ‎, ຮ່ວມກັນ‎
  •  Hindi: एक साथ‎, के साथ‎, साथ‎, साथ साथ‎
  •  Burmese: တကွ‎
  •  Japanese: 一緒に‎ (issho ni)
  •  Slovak: spoločne‎, spolu‎
  •  Interlingua: insimul‎
  •  Greek: μαζί‎
  •  Swahili: pamoja‎
  •  Norwegian: i lag‎
  •  Danish: sammen‎
  •  Kyrgyz: бирге‎, кошо‎
  •  Malay: bersama‎, sama-sama‎
  •  Dutch: samen‎, tezamen‎
  •  Istriot: insembro‎
  •  Uzbek: birga‎, birgalikda‎
  •  Novial: kunu‎
  •  Tajik: бо ҳам‎, ҳамроҳ‎
  •  Korean: 함께‎, 같이‎
  •  Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd‎
  •  Bashkir: бергә‎, күмәктәп‎
  •  Kazakh: бірге‎, бірлесіп‎
  •  Norman: ensemblle‎ (Guernsey), ensembl’ye‎ (Jersey)
  •  Mongolian: хамт‎
  •  Albanian: së bashku‎, bashkë‎
  •  Estonian: kokku‎, koos‎
  •  West Frisian: mei-inoar‎, meiïnoar‎
  •  Quechua: tanta‎
  •  Lithuanian: kartu‎
  •  Turkmen: bile‎, bilelikde‎, birlikde‎
  •  Tagalog: sama-sama‎
  •  Alemannic German: zäme‎, mitenand‎
  •  Turkish: birlikte‎, beraber‎
  •  Romanian: în masă‎
  •  French: en masse‎
  •  Swedish: i massor‎
  •  Ido: amase‎
  •  Italian: in massa‎
  •  Irish: le chéile‎

What are synonyms and antonyms of en masse?

There are many different words that can be used in place of the word en masse. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are very useful to know if you are trying to avoid repeating yourself as well as if you are looking to expand your English vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word en masse is provided by Power Thesaurus.

  •  in partnership
  •  coincidentally
  •  in a body
  •  conjointly
  •  jointly
  •  generally
  •  on the whole
  •  as a group
  •  as a body
  •  as a whole
  •  simultaneously
  •  communally
  •  in toto
  •  harmoniously
  •  as one
  •  everything considered
  •  in a single body
  •  wholly
  •  mass scale
  •  in all
  •  concomitantly
  •  ensemble
  •  taken together
  •  in a group
  •  by agreement
  •  with one voice
  •  cooperatively
  •  totally
  •  all together
  •  en bloc
  •  entirely
  •  unitedly
  •  unanimously
  •  in collaboration
  •  in conjunction
  •  altogether
  •  synchronically
  •  concertedly
  •  in concert
  •  in chorus
  •  in common
  •  together
  •  collectively
  •  contemporaneously
  •  by and large
  •  in league
  •  all in all
  •  bodily
  •  mutually
  •  all at once
  •  in unison

There are also a number of words that mean the opposite of the word en masse. These are called antonyms, which are another great tool to have in your English language arsenal if you are looking to grow your vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word en masse is also provided by Power Thesaurus

  •  unique
  •  private
  •  single-handedly
  •  exclusively
  •  personally
  •  companionless
  •  unaided
  •  unattended
  •  on your own
  •  abandoned
  •  unaccompanied
  •  in isolation
  •  by himself
  •  unequaled
  •  single
  •  sole
  •  solitary
  •  singly
  •  simply
  •  entirely
  •  deserted
  •  forlorn
  •  lone
  •  uniquely
  •  independently
  •  detached
  •  just
  •  by oneself
  •  alone
  •  solo
  •  privately
  •  individual
  •  by herself
  •  separate
  •  lonesome
  •  solely
  •  unassisted
  •  all alone
  •  merely
  •  lonely
  •  forsaken
  •  one by one
  •  individually
  •  only
  •  by yourself
  •  isolated
  •  separately
  •  by itself
  •  apart
  •  unparalleled
  •  friendless

How can you use the word en masse in a sentence?

There are many different ways that a person can use the word en masse in a sentence. Using new words in a sentence is a great way to memorize their definitions. You can also try making flashcards or quizzes for yourself to test your knowledge of different definitions. Try using this word of the day in a sentence today! Below is an example of en masse or two to help get you started.

The large group of people stormed the Capitol gate en masse in July. The police arrested all of the people they could get.

The harcore protesters in Singapore would die en masse rather than let the bulldozer cut down the rain forest.

The group of teachers decided to go on strike en masse as a form of protest toward the school district. They demanded equal pay, fair hours and better treatment before they would teach again.

Overall, the French phrase en masse (adj./adv.) means all together or at the same time. This is frequently used in French literature but also by the upper classes of England. Try using this word of the day in a sentence today in order to memorize its definition!

Sources:

  1. En Masse synonyms – 178 Words and Phrases for En Masse | Power Thesaurus 
  2. En Masse antonyms – 20 Opposites of En Masse | Power Thesaurus 
  3. En masse definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  4. en masse: meaning, origin, translation | Word Sense