master

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See also: Master, máster, and Mäster

English[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister, from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from mag- (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

master (plural masters)

  1. Someone who has control over something or someone.
    • Addison
      master of a hundred thousand drachms
    • Jowett (Thucyd.)
      We are masters of the sea.
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 415–420, page 83:
      Maſters commands come with a power reſiſtleſs / To ſuch as owe them abſolute ſubjection; / And for a life who will not change his purpoſe? / (So mutable are all the ways of men) / Yet this be ſure, in nothing to comply / Scandalous or forbidden in our Law.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. […] Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.
  2. The owner of an animal or slave.
  3. (nautical) The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.
  4. (dated) The head of a household.
  5. Someone who employs others.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
  6. An expert at something.
    Mark Twain was a master of fiction.
    • Macaulay
      great masters of ridicule
    • John Locke
      No care is taken to improve young men in their own language, that they may thoroughly understand and be masters of it.
  7. A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
  8. (dated) A schoolmaster.
  9. A skilled artist.
  10. (dated) A man or a boy; mister. See Master.
    • Jonathan Swift
      Where there are little masters and misses in a house, they are impediments to the diversions of the servants.
  11. A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.
    She has a master in psychology.
  12. A person holding such a degree.
    He is a master of marine biology.
  13. The original of a document or of a recording.
    The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks.
  14. (film) The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.
  15. (law) A parajudicial officer (such as a referee, an auditor, an examiner, or an assessor) specially appointed to help a court with its proceedings.
    The case was tried by a master, who concluded that the plaintiffs were the equitable owners of the property. […]
  16. (engineering) A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source (e.g. master database).
  17. (freemasonry) A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.
  18. (by extension) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
Synonyms[edit]
Hyponyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Pages starting with "master".

terms derived from master
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
schoolmaster — see schoolmaster
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also[edit]

Adjective[edit]

master (not comparable)

  1. Masterful.
  2. Main, principal or predominant.
  3. Highly skilled.
    master batsman
  4. Original.
    master copy
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

master (third-person singular simple present masters, present participle mastering, simple past and past participle mastered)

  1. (intransitive) To be a master.
  2. (transitive) To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Locke
      Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
      Then Elzevir cried out angrily, 'Silence. Are you mad, or has the liquor mastered you? Are you Revenue-men that you dare shout and roister? or contrabandiers with the lugger in the offing, and your life in your hand. You make noise enough to wake folk in Moonfleet from their beds.'
  3. (transitive) To learn to a high degree of proficiency.
    It took her years to master the art of needlecraft.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To own; to posses.
  5. (transitive, especially of a musical performance) To make a master copy of.
  6. (intransitive, usually with in) To earn a Master's degree.
    He mastered in English at the state college.
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from the noun "master"
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

mast +‎ -er

Noun[edit]

master (plural masters)

  1. (nautical, in combination) A vessel having a specified number of masts.
    a two-master
Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English master. Doublet of maître, inherited from Latin.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

master m (plural masters)

  1. master's degree, master's (postgraduate degree)
  2. master (golf tournament)
  3. master, master copy

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Noun[edit]

master m, f

  1. indefinite plural of mast

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Noun[edit]

master f

  1. indefinite pl of mast

Old Frisian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

māster m

  1. master, leader

Declension[edit]

Declension of māster (masculine a-stem)
case singular plural
nominative māster māsterar, māstera
accusative māster māsterar, māstera
genitive māsteres māstera
dative māstere māsterum, māsterem

See also[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

master

  1. indefinite plural of mast

West Frisian[edit]

Noun[edit]

master

  1. master
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