master
/ˈmæstɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.93 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.
noun
A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
Example Sentences
- "We are masters of the sea."
- "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."
- "When I have thus made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas […]."
- "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."
- "Master at two-and-twenty, and married at twenty-three—"
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂-der.? Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der.? Proto-Italic *magisteros Latin magister, magistrum Old French maistrebor. ▲ Latin magisterder. Old English mǣġester Middle English maister English master 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæstɚ/
- British English: /ˈmɑːstə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
masters (plural)
maistre (alternative, archaic)
Marse (alternative, Caribbean)
mas'r (alternative)
mastr (alternative, obsolete)
mastre (alternative, obsolete)
maister (alternative, obsolete)
mayster (alternative, obsolete)
Massa (alternative)
massah (alternative)
massy (alternative)
masta (alternative)