mastiff
/ˈmæstɪf/
mastiff noun: one of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
Noun (1)
mastiff (plural mastiffs or (archaic) mastives)
- One of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
- At which time, they wryte that Demoſthenes told the people of Athens, the fable of the ſheepe and woulues, how that the woulues came on a time, and willed the ſheepe, if they woulde haue peace with them, to deliuer them their maſtiues that kept them.1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Demosthenes”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 908
- As ſaluage Bull, whom two fierce maſtiues bayt, / When rancour doth with rage him once engore, / Forgets with wary warde them to awayt, / But with his dreadfull hornes them driues afore, / Or flings aloft or treades downe in the flore, / Breathing out wrath, and bellowing diſdaine, / That all the...1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 302
Noun (2) capitalized: Mastiff
Mastiff (plural Mastiffs)
- Alternative letter-case form of mastiff.
mastiff meaning in Arabic and Malay
mastiff in Arabic
- powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
- دِرْوَاس dirwās
mastiff in Malay
- powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
- anjing mastif
Examples of mastiff in a sentence
- Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or him.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...
- The Mastiff is a good fighter, and can kill a wildcat, taking the necessary punishment well, as we found out when we once trapped one of these small lynxes.1896, Theodore Roosevelt, chapter 11, in Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, The Century Co.:
- Milei’s allies reject his portrayal as an unbalanced powder keg, although they do not refute claims their leader takes counsel from his cloned mastiffs.2023 November 19, Tom Phillips, “Argentina holds breath as far-right Milei seizes narrow runoff advantage”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Forms of mastiff
| plural | mastiffs |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Mastiff |
| plural | Mastiffs |
| plural (archaic) | mastives |
Origin of mastiff
From Middle English mastif, mastyf, an aberrant derivation (with influence from Old French mestif) from Old French mastin (modern French mâtin), from Vulgar Latin *mansuetinus (“tamed (animal)”), from Latin mansuetus (“tamed”).
Words formed from mastiff
Phrases with mastiff
Questions about mastiff
- What does mastiff mean?
- Mastiff means one of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
- What is mastiff in Arabic?
- Mastiff in Arabic is دِرْوَاس (dirwās). See Mastiff meaning in Arabic.
- How do you use mastiff in a sentence?
- Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or him.
- What part of speech is mastiff?
- Mastiff is a noun.
- How do you pronounce mastiff?
- Mastiff is pronounced /ˈmæstɪf/ (UK).
- What is the plural of mastiff?
- The plural of mastiff is mastiffs.
Words near mastiff in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mastiff (page history and authors); Mastiff (page history and authors). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-mastiff.wav.
Cite this entry: “mastiff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mastiff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.