Messapian (also known as Messapic) is an extinct Indo-European language of South-eastern Italy, once spoken in the region of Apulia. It was spoken by the three Iapygian tribes of the region: the Messapians, the Dauni and the Peucetii.

The language has been preserved in about 300 inscriptions dating from the 6th to the 1st century BC.

Messapian may have been one of the Illyrian languages, which were spoken mainly on the other side of the Adriatic Sea. This speculation is based on personal names found on tomb inscriptions and on classical references, since hardly any traces of the Illyrian language are left.

Messapian became extinct after the Roman Republic conquered the region of Apulia and assimilated the inhabitants.

Few if any Messapic inscriptions have been definitely deciphered.

From the Vaste inscription (Corpus Inscriptionum Messapicarum 149), a passage that probably consists mostly of personal names:

For this other Messapic inscription (Grotta della Poesia, Melendugno, Lecce), a translation is given from Cornell University: