dry mass

English

Etymology

From dry +‎ mass. In the liturgical sense, a calque of Ecclesiastical Latin missa sicca.

Noun

dry mass (plural dry masses)

1. (aerospace) The mass of a rocket including its contents but without propellant.

   Coordinate term: wet mass

2. (Roman Catholicism, historical) A demonstrative celebration of most of the liturgy of the Mass, omitting the consecration of the elements.
   • 1995, Robert N. Swanson, Religion and Devotion in Europe, c.1215–c.1515, page 139:

     Alongside the mass as a means of providing access to the consecrated elements, there is the oddity of the holding of masses without any consecration. These ‘dry masses’ are one of the more shadowy elements of medieval devotion, ill-documented and little considered.