Legal Definitions - en masse

En masse is a French term meaning "in a mass" or "all together." It describes an action or event involving a large group of people acting simultaneously or as a unified body.

The term en masse describes an action or movement undertaken by a large group of people all at once, or all together. It signifies a collective and simultaneous action rather than individual, separate ones.

• Imagine a scenario where a popular musical artist announces a surprise, free concert in a city park. Within minutes of the announcement, thousands of fans begin to converge on the park en masse, eager to secure a good viewing spot.

  This illustrates en masse because it describes a large number of people moving collectively and simultaneously towards a single location, rather than individuals arriving sporadically over a longer period.

• Consider a situation where a new, highly anticipated video game is released. On the first day of sales, customers line up outside electronics stores and then purchase the game en masse, leading to rapid sell-outs across many locations.

  Here, en masse highlights that a large group of consumers engaged in the collective action of buying the product at the same time, demonstrating a unified purchasing trend rather than scattered individual purchases.