Word.ws English Dictionary

master

Syllables: mas·ter/ˈmɑːstə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ˈmastə/

master noun: someone who has control over something or someone. Also the ellipsis of master key.

Noun (1)

master (plural masters)

  1. Someone who has control over something or someone.
    • We are masters of the sea.1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides
    • 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.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...
  2. The owner of an animal or slave.
  3. The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.
    • Master at two-and-twenty, and married at twenty-three—1896, Rudyard Kipling, The Mary Gloster
    Synonyms:
    skipper, captain
  4. (dated) A male head of household.
  5. Someone who employs others.
    • 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.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
  6. An expert at something.
    • Mark Twain was a master of fiction.
    • 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.1843 July, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. VII—The Life of Joseph Addison. By Lucy Aikin.”, in The Edinburgh Review, number CLVII, page 231
  7. A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
  8. (dated) A male schoolteacher.
  9. A skilled artist.
  10. (dated) A man or a boy; mister. See Master.
    • Where there are little Maſters and Miſſes in a Houſe, they are uſually great Impediments to the Diverſions of the Servants;1731 (date written; published 1745), [Jonathan] Swift, Directions to Servants […], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], and M. Cooper, […], →OCLC
  11. A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.
    • She has a master in psychology.
  12. A person holding such a degree.
    • He is a master of marine biology.
Show 8 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The original of a document or of a recording.
    • The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks.
  2. (broadly) The copyright in a sound recording.
    • Many modern recording artists value owning their masters.
  3. The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.
  4. 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.[…]
  5. A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source.
    • a master wheel
    • a master database
    Synonyms:
    coordinator, primary
    Antonyms:
    secondary, slave, worker
  6. A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.
  7. (broadly) A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
  8. A male dominant.

Adjective

master (not comparable)

  1. Masterful.
    • a master performance
  2. Main, principal or predominant.
  3. Highly skilled.
    • master batsman
    • In another minute she lay peaceful and motionless under the anæsthetic — a statue, immobile, yet expressionful, as though carved by some master hand.1895, Marshall Mather, Lancashire Idylls, page 39
  4. Original.
    • master copy

Verb

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.
    • Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows.1693, [John Locke], “(please specify the section number)”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →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.'[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC
  3. (transitive) To learn to a high degree of proficiency.
    • It took her years to master the art of needlecraft.
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To own; to possess.
    • […]the wealth / That the world maſters.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]...
  5. (especially, transitive) To make a master copy of.
  6. (intransitive, usually) To earn a Master's degree.
    • He mastered in English at the state college.

Noun (2)

master (plural masters)

  1. (in-compounds) A vessel having a specified number of masts.
    • a two-master

Noun (3) capitalized: Master

Master (plural Masters)

  1. Prepended to a boy's name or surname as a (now somewhat formal) form of address.
    • "I'm terribly sorry, Master Luke," apologized the droid.1995, Barbara Hambly, Children of the Jedi, page 81
  2. A religious teacher, often as an honorific title.
  3. The title of the head of certain colleges and schools.
  4. A master's degree.
  5. A person holding a master's degree, as a title.
  6. The title of the eldest son of a Scots lord.
    • The eldest son of Lord Forbes is known as the Master of Forbes.
  7. The owner of a slave, in some literature.
  8. Used as the title of a dominant, especially a male one.

Proper noun capitalized: Master

Master

  1. One of the triune gods of the Horned God in Wicca alongside the Father and Sage and representing a boy or a young man.
    • ...and our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.2002, A. J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 89
    • In respect to our Lord (God), these are the less known Master, Father, and Sage.2003, A. J. Drew, Patricia Telesco, God/Goddess: Exploring and Celebrating the Two Sides of Wiccan Deity, page 38
  2. Mastercard
  3. A surname.

Also used as

master is also the ellipsis of master key.

master meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

master in Hindi

someone who has control over something or someone
स्वामी svāmī, अधिपति adhipti, अधिराज adhirāj, प्रभु prabhu, सरवर sarvar, सलार salār
owner of an animal or slave
स्वामी svāmī
courtesy title of a man
आका ākā, आक़ा āqā, आगा āgā, आग़ा āġā, साहिब sāhib, साहब sāhab
courtesy title for a boy
मास्टर māsṭar

master in Tamil

மாஸ்டர்

master in Marathi

मास्टर

master in Urdu

owner of an animal or slave
مِہْتَر mihtar
expert at something
اُسْتاد ustād
tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices
اُسْتاد ustād
skilled artist
اُسْتاد ustād
More languagesFewer languages
master in Bengali
মাস্টার
master in Telugu
మాస్టర్, మాస్టారు
master in Malayalam
മാസ്റ്റർ
master in Kannada
ಎರೆ ere
master in Punjabi
ਮਾਸਟਰ, ਮਾਸਟਰ ਜੀ
master in Gujarati
માસ્ટર
master in Sanskrit
प्रभु prabhu
master in Nepali
मास्टर
master in Tagalog
amo, pantas, kapitan, capitan
master in Arabic
سَيِّد sayyid, أُصُولِيّ ʔuṣūliyy, أُصُولِيَّة ʔuṣūliyya, خَبِير ḵabīr
master in Indonesian
master, magister
master in Persian
کارْشِناسِ اَرْشَد, اصلی asli, استاد ostâd, ماهر mâher
master in Thai
เจ้านาย jâo-naai, นาย naai, มหาบัณฑิต má-hǎa-ban-dìt, ต้นฉบับ dtôn-chà-bàp
master in Vietnamese
chủ, thạc sĩ

Examples of master in a sentence

  • When I have thus made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas […].1712 November 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “WEDNESDAY, November 13, 1712”, in The Spectator, number...
  • No care is taken to improve young men in their own language, that they may thoroughly understand and be masters of it.1693, [John Locke], “§189”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
  • In January 2000, the local Qigong master who treated me asked me to find Falun Gong material on the Internet for him.2001, “People with Cancer”, in Falun Gong Stories: A Journey to Ultimate Health, Golden Lotus Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 62:

All 40 example sentences with master

Synonyms of master

22 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of master

Forms of master

pluralmasters
alternative formmas'r
alternative formMaster
alternative formMassa
alternative formmassa
alternative formmassah
alternative formmassy
alternative formmasta
alternative formMastah
alternative formmastah
alternative formmastuh
pluralMasters
alternative formmaster
alternative form (archaic)maistre
alternative Caribbean US (obsolete, dialectal)Marse
alternative Caribbean US (obsolete, dialectal)marse
alternative form (obsolete)mastr
alternative form (obsolete)Mastr
alternative form (obsolete)mastre

Past tense of master: mastered

Plural of master: masters

Origin of 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.

From mast + -er.

Words formed from master

Phrases with master

124 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with master

Questions about master

What does master mean?
Master means someone who has control over something or someone.
What is master in Hindi?
Master in Hindi is स्वामी (svāmī), अधिपति (adhipti), अधिराज (adhirāj). See Master meaning in Hindi.
How do you use master in a sentence?
When I have thus made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas […].
What part of speech is master?
Master can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce master?
Master is pronounced /ˈmɑːstə/ (UK).
What is the plural of master?
The plural of master is masters.

Words near master in the dictionary

  1. Masteller
  2. Mastellers
  3. Mastels
  4. Masten
  5. Mastens
  6. master
  7. master baiter
  8. master baiters
  9. master bathroom
  10. master bedroom
  11. master bedrooms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: master (page history and authors); Master (page history and authors); master (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); master (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “master.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/master. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.