means To rub, knead, and press the body's muscles and soft tissue with the hands to relieve tension and pain, or figuratively to manipulate something (data, an ego) into a more agreeable shape.

from From French massage, a 19th-century arrival, built on masser, 'to knead or handle.' That verb's deeper roots are debated: it may trace to Arabic massa, 'to touch or handle,' or to Portuguese amassar, 'to knead dough' — fittingly, since a good massage treats the body rather like bread being worked into softness.