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Etymology and origin of the English word mace

English has two main words spelled mace: the club or staff of office, and the spice.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

mace1 club, staff of office

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1325 Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman mace via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Vulgar Latin *mattea

Etymology

The club is inherited from Middle English mace,[5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman mace, also masse,[6][7] now masse,[6][8] from Vulgar Latin *mattea, also *mattia,[6][1][2] which is the source also of Italian mazza, Spanish maza and Portuguese maça.[6][9] The Vulgar Latin word is probably connected with Latin mateola (“a kind of mallet”), in Late Latin also matteola;[6][9][3] Barnhart relates this to Old High German medela (“plough”), from Proto-Indo-European *mat- (“pickaxe, mattock”), and to English mattock.[3] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1136, already both as a weapon and as a symbol of office.[10] The tear-gas spray Mace, a trade name, is probably a use of the same word for its use as a weapon;[6][9][7] Barnhart also explains it as an acronym of the chemical names in methylchloroform chloroacetophenone.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A heavy club, often spiked, used as a weapon: about 1325, in the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester.[6][5] Barnhart finds it probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, and earlier as a surname (1229).[3]

Semantic evolution

From the weapon the word passed to the ornamental staff carried before certain officials as a sign of their authority: the OED's first record is from before 1419,[6] Etymonline's from the mid-14th century.[9] From before 1525 mace could also mean the mace-bearer himself.[6] In the 18th century it was a billiard cue with a flat square head (1727),[6][11] and in tanning a mallet for beating leather (1839).[6] Johnson (1755) gave the ensign of authority before the weapon.[12] The verb, to strike with a mace, is recorded from before 1634.[6] Chemical Mace, a proprietary name of the General Ordnance Equipment Corporation of Pittsburgh, is recorded from 1966,[9][6] and the verb to mace, to spray with it, from 1968,[6][9][2] or 1967 according to Barnhart.[3]

Timeline

  • 1229 – as a surname.[3]
  • c. 1325 – a heavy club used as a weapon.[6][5]
  • before 1419 – a staff of office borne before an official.[6]
  • before 1525 – a mace-bearer.[6]
  • before 1634 – verb, to strike with a mace.[6]
  • 1727 – a billiard cue with a flat head.[6]
  • 1966 – Mace, a disabling chemical spray.[6][9][3]
  • 1968 – verb, to spray with Mace.[6][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A heavy club with a metal head, often spiked, used as a weapon in the Middle Ages.[11][2][6]
  2. An ornamental staff carried before or placed near an official as a sign of authority: The mayor's procession was led by the mace.[11][2][6]
  3. (historical) A billiards cue with a flat square head.[11][6]
  4. Mace (trademark): a liquid sprayed in the face to disable a person, causing tears and nausea.[11][2][6]

Verb

  1. To spray someone with Mace.[11][2][6]
  2. To strike with a mace, or as if with one.[2][6]

mace2 spice

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Back-formation
First attested
1234 Close Roll of Henry III
Borrowed from
Old French macis via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Medieval Latin macis

Etymology

The spice is inherited from Middle English mace, a new singular formed from macis, also maces, which was taken as a plural;[6][5][1][3] that form is borrowed from Old French macis or its source borrowed from Medieval Latin macis (“aril of the nutmeg”).[6][5][3] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from about 1216.[10] The origin of the Medieval Latin word is uncertain.[6][9] The American Heritage Dictionary, Klein and Barnhart take it as a scribal error for Latin macir (“red bark of an Indian root”), from Ancient Greek μάκιρ (mákir);[1][13][3] the OED finds a connection uncertain, and none probable with maccis, an imaginary spice in Plautus,[6] from which Weekley had derived it.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The spice made from the covering of the nutmeg seed: 1234, in the plural maces, in the Close Rolls of Henry III.[6][5][3] Barnhart finds the singular probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,[3] and Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.[9]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English macis could also mean gum mastic.[5] From 1681 the word was also used of the oil distilled from mace.[6]

Timeline

  • 1234 – maces, the spice from the nutmeg.[6][5]
  • before 1300 – singular mace, in Kyng Alisaunder.[3]
  • 1681 – oil distilled from mace.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A spice made from the dried aril that covers the seed of the nutmeg: a pinch of mace in the custard.[2][6][11]
  • mattock

References

  1. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Mace.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mace. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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