masterly
/ˈmæstɚli/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.46 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Her years of experience enabled her to render a masterly performance."
- "He made confeſsion of you, / And gaue you ſuch a maſterly report / For art and exerciſe in your defence, / And for your Rapier moſt eſpeciall, / That he cride out t' would be a ſight indeed / If one could match you; [...]"
- "H'as a ſtrange cunning tongue, why do you ſigh Sir? How maſterly he turns himſelf to catch me?"
- "I have therefore drawn this Picture of her, which your Ladiſhip ſees; and I conceive it, to be very like the Originall, though the hand be not so maſterlie, as the Perſon deſerves, and I wiſh."
- "Of all the pamphlets that came forth at that time, or perhaps of thoſe that have ſince appeared, this was the moſt eloquent and maſterly."
- "samuel [Wesley], the youngeſt, though he was three years old before he aimed at a tune, yet by conſtantly hearing his brother [Charles Wesley junior] practiſe, and being accuſtomed to good muſic and maſterly execution, before he was ſix years old arrived at ſuch knowledge in muſic, that his extemporary performance on keyed inſtruments, like [Wolfgang Amadeus] mozart's, was ſo maſterly in point of invention, modulation, and accuracy of execution, as to ſurpaſs, in many particulars, the attainments of moſt profeſſors at any period of their lives."
Etymology
PIE word *méǵh₂s From Middle English maisterli, from maister (“leader, ruler; high official; official in charge of a place; person in control; employer; owner; schoolmaster, teacher; scholar, sage; holder of a master's degree; religious teacher; master craftsman; expert; magician; social superior; husband; lover; Jesus Christ; a god; male stud animal”) + -li (suffix forming adjectives). Maister is derived from Old English mæġester (“master”) and Old French maistre (“master”) (modern French maître), both from Latin magister (“teacher; master”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”). The English word is analysable as master + -ly.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmæstɚli/
- British English: /ˈmɑːstəli/