mask
/mæsk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.31 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
noun
noun
A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.
noun
A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
Obsolete
noun
A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like.
noun
In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
Example Sentences
- "a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask"
- "Just a few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the CDC—issued new mask guidelines. Under these new guidelines, most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free. And based on the projections, more of the country will reach that point across the next couple of weeks."
- "Grouchy and wary and tender, he’s a sozzled hedonist seemingly out for himself—though his party-animal facade is just a mask for his bottomless generosity."
- "Come then, pure hands, and bear the head That sleeps or wears the mask of sleep, And come, whatever loves to weep, And hear the ritual of the dead."
- "This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask."
- "the mask that has the arm of the Indian queen"
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā, from which English mesh and mask (“mesh”) (below at Etymology 2) are inherited. Doublet of mascara, masque, and mesh. Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mæsk/
- British English: /mɑːsk/