means A state of untidiness, disorder, or confusion — or a situation that has gone badly wrong.

from From Old French 'mes,' a portion of food or a course at a meal, from Late Latin 'missum' (something put on the table, from 'mittere,' to send or put). For centuries a 'mess' was simply a dish served up — and a group dining together became a 'mess,' which survives in the military 'mess hall.' The slide toward 'disorder' came later, likely from the idea of mixed or jumbled food (a 'mess of pottage'), the sense of a sloppy, indiscriminate heap eventually swallowing the original meal entirely.