mask.
A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
Meaning & usage
A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask
That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
Appearance, likeness.
A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.
A person wearing a mask.
A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like.
In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
A screen for a battery.
The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.
A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
A two-color (black and white) bitmap generated from an image, used to create transparency in the image.
The black fur around a racoon's eyes.
The head of a fox, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
Where this word comes from
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.
To cover (the face or something else), in order to conceal the identity or protect against injury; to cover with a mask or visor.
To disguise as something else.
To conceal from view or knowledge; to cover; to hide.
To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of.
To cover or keep in check.
to mask a body of troops or a fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out
To take part as a masker in a masquerade.
To put on a mask; to wear a mask.
To disguise oneself, to be disguised in any way.
To conceal or disguise one's neurodivergence, especially autism; to learn, practice, and perform certain behaviors and suppress others in order to appear more neurotypical.
To cover or shield something, or a portion of something, so as to prevent reproduction or to safeguard the surface from the colors used when working with an air brush or painting.
To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask.
To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by setting or unsetting the associated bit.
Where this word comes from
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.
Mesh.
The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English maske, from Old English max, masċ (“net”), from Proto-West Germanic *maskā (“mesh, netting, mask”). Doublet of mesh and mask above.
Mash.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc (“mash”). Doublet of mash.
To mash.
(brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.
To be infused or steeped.
To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.
To prepare (to storm).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc (“mash”). Doublet of mash.
To bewilder; confuse.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English masken, short for *maskeren, malskren (“to bewilder; be confused, wander”). More at masker.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.