MASTER, AS A NOUN
Etymology 1
From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb),
from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”),
from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”),
from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)).
Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source.
Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”),
West Frisian master (“master”),
Doublet of maestro and magister.
Alternative forms
- maistre (archaic)
- Marse, marse (obsolete, dialectal, American, Caribbean)
- mas'r (dated, pronunciation spelling, representing southern US black English)
- Master
- mastre, maister, mayster (obsolete)
- Massa, massa, massah, massy, masta, Mastah, mastah, mastuh (pronunciation spellings)
- measter (obsolete, British, pronunciation spelling)
- mester, mister (dialectal)
Noun
master (plural masters, feminine mistress)
- Someone who has control over something or someone. quotations ▼
- The owner of an animal or slave.
- (nautical) The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner. synonyms ▲Synonyms: skipper, captain
- (dated) A male head of a household.
- Someone who employs others. quotations ▼
- An expert at something. synonym ▲quotations ▼Synonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled person
Mark Twain was a master of fiction.
- A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
- (dated) A male schoolteacher.
- A skilled artist.
- (dated) A man or a boy; mister. See Master. quotations ▼
- A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree. synonyms ▲Synonyms: masters, master's, (Quebec) magistrate
She has a master in psychology.
- A person holding such a degree.
He is a master of marine biology.
The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks.
- (film) The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later. synonyms ▲Synonyms: establishing shot, long shot
- (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. […]
- (engineering, computing) A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source. synonyms, antonyms ▲Synonyms: coordinator, primaryAntonyms: secondary, slave, worker
a master wheel
a master database
- (Freemasonry) A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.
- (by extension) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
- Short for master key. quotations ▼
- (BDSM) A male dominant. coordinate term ▲Coordinate term: mistress
Hyponyms
- mistress (feminine-specific form)
Derived terms
- ballet master
- barge master
- barmaster
- beemaster
- bergmaster
- boarding-master
- boroughmaster
- brewmaster
- burghomaster
- burgomaster
- bushmaster
- charge description master
- charge-master
- charge master
- chess master/chessmaster
- cockmaster
- concertmaster
- craftsmaster
- dancing master's kit
- dancing master's kit
- dockmaster
- dragonmaster
- drill master/drillmaster
- dungeon master
- game master
- games master/games-master
- garret-master
- golden master
- gold master
- grand master
- Grand Master/grandmaster
- harbor master/harbor-master/harbormaster
- headmaster
- house master/housemaster
- ironmaster
- jack of all trades, master of none
- job master
- jumpmaster
- loadmaster
- lockmaster
- lord and master
- master-at-arms
- master baiter
- master bedroom
- master bricklayer
- master builder
- master card
- master cast
- master caution
- master class
- master clock
- master copy
- master cylinder
- masterdom
- masterfast
- master file
- masterful
- master gland
- masterhood
- master key
- masterless
- masterly
- master mariner
- master mason
- mastermind
- master of all one surveys
- Master of Arts
- master of ceremonies
- master of one's time
- Master of Science
- master of the horse
- master of the mint
- master of the obvious
- master of the schools
- masterous
- masterpiece
- master plan/master-plan/masterplan
- master race
- Masters
- master sergeant
- mastership
- master signifier
- mastersinger
- master status
- master's thesis
- masterstroke
- master tradesman
- master trust
- master warning
- masterwork
- mastery
- metal master
- mint-master
- no one is born a master
- old master
- passed master
- past master
- paymaster
- postmaster
- posture-master
- posture-master
- property master
- prop master
- props master
- puppet master/puppet-master/puppetmaster
- quartermaster
- question-master
- quizmaster
- rattlesnake master
- ringmaster
- roaming master
- sailing-master
- saymaster
- schoolmaster
- scoutmaster
- serve two masters
- shedmaster
- sheepmaster
- shipmaster
- shipping master
- special master
- spymaster
- stationmaster
- taskmaster
- taxing master
- thigh master
- toastmaster
- trackmaster
- trainmaster
- undermaster
- vendue master
- watermaster
- webmaster
- weighmaster
- whoremaster
- workmaster
- wreck master/wreck-master/wreckmaster
- writing master
- yardmaster
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Related terms
- mistress (feminine form of "master")