master

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːs.tə/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈmas.tə/, (influenced by RP) /ˈmɑːs.tə/
• (Scotland, Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈmas.təɹ/
• (General American) enPR: măsʹtər, IPA^(key): /ˈmæs.tɚ/
• (Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑs.tə/ (see marster)
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈmaːs.tə/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ɑːstə(ɹ), -æstə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: mas‧ter

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 Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (as in magnus (“great”), also cognate of English much and mickle) + -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”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

• maistre (archaic)
• Marse, marse (obsolete, dialectal, US, 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, UK, pronunciation spelling)
• mester, mister (dialectal)

master (plural masters)

1. Someone who has control over something or someone.
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides:

     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: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 83, lines 415–420:

     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.

   • 1712 November 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “THURSDAY, November 13, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 535; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 97:

     When I have thus made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas […] .

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 58–59:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain 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.

   Synonyms: skipper, captain

   • 1896, Rudyard Kipling, The Mary Gloster:

     Master at two-and-twenty, and married at twenty-three—

4. (dated) A male head of household.
5. Someone who employs others.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:

     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.

7. An expert at something.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:skilled person

   Mark Twain was a master of fiction.

   • 1843 July, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. VII—The Life of Joseph Addison. By Lucy Aikin.”, in The Edinburgh Review, number CLVII, page 231:

     But that which chiefly distinguishes Addison from Swift, from Voltaire, from almost all the other great masters of ridicule, is the grace, the nobleness, the moral purity, which we find even in his merriment.

   • 1693, [John Locke], “§189”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:

     No care is taken to improve young men in their own language, that they may thoroughly understand and be masters of it.

   • 1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope:

     Darth Vader: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner; now I am the master.
     Obi-Wan Kenobi: Only a master of evil, Darth.

   • 2001, “People with Cancer”, in Falun Gong Stories: A Journey to Ultimate Health‎^[1], Golden Lotus Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 62:

     A turning point came earlier this year. In January 2000, the local Qigong master who treated me asked me to find Falun Gong material on the Internet for him.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:master.
8. A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
9. (dated) A male schoolteacher.
11. A skilled artist.
12. (dated) A man or a boy; mister. See Master.
    • 1731 (date written; published 1745), [Jonathan] Swift, Directions to Servants […], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], and M. Cooper, […], →OCLC:

      Where there are little Maſters and Miſſes in a Houſe, they are uſually great Impediments to the Diverſions of the Servants;

13. A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.

    Synonyms: masters, master's, (Quebec) magistrate

    She has a master in psychology.

14. A person holding such a degree.

    He is a master of marine biology.

15. The original of a document or of a recording.

    The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks.

16. (by extension, music) The copyright in a sound recording.

    Many modern recording artists value owning their masters.

17. (film) The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.

    Synonyms: establishing shot, long shot

18. (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. […]

19. (engineering, computing) A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source.

    Synonyms: coordinator, primary

    Antonyms: secondary, slave, worker

    a master wheel

    a master database

20. (Freemasonry) A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.
21. (by extension) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
22. Ellipsis of master key.
    • 2020, Jane M. Wiggins, Facilities Manager's Desk Reference, page 517:

      The use of masters and submasters will enable suites of rooms to be controlled by one key.

23. (BDSM) A male dominant.

    Coordinate term: mistress

• mistress (feminine-specific form)

English terms starting with “master”

• mistress (feminine form of "master")

• journeyman
• apprentice

master (not comparable)

1. Masterful.

   a master performance

2. Main, principal or predominant.
3. Highly skilled.

   master batsman

   • 1895, Marshall Mather, Lancashire Idylls, page 39:

     In another minute she lay peaceful and motionless under the anæsthetic — a statue, immobile, yet expressionful, as though carved by some master hand.

4. Original.

   master copy

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.
   • 1693, [John Locke], “(please specify the section number)”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:

     Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows.

   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     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 possess.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 183, column 2:

     […] the wealth / That the world maſters.

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.

From mast + -er.

master (plural masters)

1. (nautical, in combination) A vessel having a specified number of masts.

   a two-master

• four-master

• Stamer, ramset, metras, matres, mastre, maters, armets, armest, termas, tamers, trémas, remast, Tamers, Stream, ramets, 'maters, stream, METARs, tremas, Amster

From English master.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑster/, [ˈmɑ̝s̠te̞r]
• Rhymes: -ɑster
• Syllabification^(key): mas‧ter
• Hyphenation^(key): mas‧ter

master

1. (BDSM) (male) dom

Borrowed from English master. Doublet of maestro, borrowed from Italian, magister, borrowed from Latin, and maître, inherited from Latin.

• IPA^(key): /mas.tɛʁ/, /mas.tœʁ/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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master m (plural masters)

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

• “master”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• trames, trémas

From Dutch master. Doublet of maestro, magister, and mester.

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈmastər/ [ˈmas.t̪ər]
• Rhymes: -astər
• Syllabification: mas‧ter

mastêr (plural master-master or para master)

1. master (someone who has control over something or someone)

   Synonym: tuan

2. master (an expert at something)

   Synonym: ahli

3. master (the original of a document or of a recording)
4. (education) master (a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree)

   Synonyms: magister, sarjana utama

mastêr (active memaster, passive dimaster)

1. to master (to learn to a high degree)
2. to master (to make a master copy of)

• “master”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

master m or f

1. indefinite plural of mast

From English master. Doublet of magister.

master m (definite singular masteren, indefinite plural masterar, definite plural masterane)

1. a master's degree
2. a master's thesis
3. a person that has a master's degree
4. original document or recording

master f (definite singular mastra or mastri, indefinite plural mastrer, definite plural mastrene)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of mast

master f

1. indefinite plural of mast

• “master” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• mēster
• māstere, mēstere

Borrowed from Vulgar Latin *maester, from Latin magister. Cognates include Old English mæġester and Old Saxon mēstar.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːster/

māster m

1. master
2. leader
3. commissioner

• Māster

• Saterland Frisian: Mäster
• West Frisian: master

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 28

Borrowed from English master. Doublet of măiestru, maestru, maistru, magistru, and meșter.

master m (plural mastere)

1. master's degree

master

1. indefinite plural of mast

• smarte, smetar

• mastır

Borrowed from English master, from Old English mæġester, from Latin magister, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s. Doublet of maestro.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmas.tɯɾ/
• Hyphenation: mas‧ter

master (definite accusative masterı, plural masterlar)

1. master's degree

   Synonym: yüksek lisans

• “master”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “master”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “master”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

master c (plural masters, diminutive masterke)

1. master

• boargemaster

• “master”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011