master.
Someone who has control over something or someone.
Meaning & usage
Someone who has control over something or someone.
The owner of an animal or slave.
The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.
A male head of household.
Someone who employs others.
An expert at something.
Mark Twain was a master of fiction.
A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
A male schoolteacher.
A skilled artist.
A man or a boy; mister. See Master.
A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.
She has a master in psychology.
A person holding such a degree.
He is a master of marine biology.
The original of a document or of a recording.
The band couldn't find the master, so they re-recorded their tracks.
The copyright in a sound recording.
Many modern recording artists value owning their masters.
The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.
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.[…]
A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source.
a master wheel
a master database
A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.
A person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
Ellipsis of master key.
A male dominant.
Where this word comes from
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.
Masterful.
a master performance
Main, principal or predominant.
Highly skilled.
master batsman
Original.
master copy
Where this word comes from
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.
To be a master.
To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
To learn to a high degree of proficiency.
It took her years to master the art of needlecraft.
To own; to possess.
To make a master copy of.
To earn a Master's degree.
He mastered in English at the state college.
Where this word comes from
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.
A vessel having a specified number of masts.
a two-master
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English mast Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English master From mast + -er.
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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.