maschera

Italian

Alternative forms

• mascara (archaic or dialectal)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Late Latin mascara

Latin *mascra

Proto-Indo-European *mesgʷ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *mosgo-der.

Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ

Proto-West Germanic *maskābor.

Latin masca

Italian maschera

Inherited from Late Latin mascara, *mascra, masca. Doublet of mascara.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmas.ke.ra/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -askera
• Hyphenation: mà‧sche‧ra

Noun

maschera f (plural maschere, diminutive mascherina)

1. mask
2. (theater) commedia dell'arte stock character
3. (theater) usher (“takes tickets, escorts people to their seats”)

Derived terms

• ballo in maschera
• gettare la maschera
• mascheraio
• mascheramento
• mascherare
• mascherata
• mascherone

Descendants

• → Catalan: màscara
• → Cimbrian: maskera
• → Middle Dutch: mascher
  • Dutch: masker
    • → Indonesian: masker
• → Galician: máscara
• → Middle French: masque
  • French: masque (see there for further descendants)
  • → English: mask
• → Spanish: máscara
  • → Polish: maszkara
• → Portuguese: máscara

See also

• carnevale

Further reading

• “màschera”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026
• “maschera”, in Thesaurus (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2018
• “maschera”, in Enciclopedia Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• marasche, marchesa