means A network of interlaced strands — wire, thread, or abstract connections — whose regular openings let some things through while holding others back.

from From Middle English 'mesh' or 'maske,' related to Old English 'max' (a net) and tied to a Germanic family that includes Dutch 'maas' and German 'Masche' (a loop or stitch). The root idea runs through knots and netting — possibly linked to words for tying or knotting — so the word has always been about strands deliberately looped together. The modern sense of things 'meshing' (gears, plans, people) is a figurative stretch from those interlocking threads.