Etymologically
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master

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmɑː.stə/, US /ˈmæs.tɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English maister,[2][3] inherited from Old English mæġester (“a man with authority, a teacher”),[4][3] an early borrowing from Latin, fused in Middle English with Old French maistre, meister,[3][5] both from Latin magister (“chief, head, director, teacher”),[4][3] a contrastive formation (“he who is greater”) from magis (“more”),[4][3][6] which Etymonline takes to Proto-Indo-European *meg- (“great”).[4] Magister was formed in contrast with minister, “the lesser one, servant”, from minus “less”.[3] The Latin word is also the source of French maître, Spanish and Italian maestro, Dutch meester and German Meister,[4][5] and of mister.[5] The verb is from the noun and partly from Old French maistrier.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English mægester, “a man having control or authority over a place; a teacher or tutor of children”, is from about 1000.[4][3][7] The form maister is from probably about 1150.[3]

Semantic evolution

From the late 12th century a master was a man eminently skilled in something, and a chief teacher or spiritual guide.[4] One who directs an office or business is from the mid-13th century,[4] and one who employs others, correlative with servant or apprentice, from the mid-14th century.[4][7] A master workman or craftsman, qualified to teach apprentices and trade on his own account, is from about 1300.[4] The holder of a teaching degree, the master's degree, goes back to the medieval universities.[5][3] The captain of a merchant ship is a master from 1496 in master's mate and earlier.[7] The verb first meant “to overcome, defeat”, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,[3][4] and “to become expert in” from 1740.[3][4][7] The adjective, “chief, principal”, is from before 1225,[3] and an original recording from which copies are made is a modern sense.[8][9] Masterful is from about 1380[3] and masterpiece from the 17th century, after Dutch meesterstuk or German Meisterstück, the piece of work that qualified a craftsman.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – a man with authority; a teacher.[4][3]
  • before 1200 – verb, to overcome.[3]
  • late 12th century – a skilled man; a spiritual teacher.[4]
  • before 1225 – adjective.[3]
  • c. 1300 – a master craftsman.[4]
  • mid-14th century – an employer.[4]
  • c. 1380 – masterful.[3]
  • 1740 – verb, to become expert in.[3][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who has control or authority over others; an employer or owner.
  2. A person with great skill in an art or craft; a qualified craftsman.
  3. The captain of a merchant ship.
  4. A person holding a master's degree; the degree itself.
  5. (chiefly British) A male teacher; the head of some colleges.
  6. An original recording or document from which copies are made.
  7. (dated) A title for a boy too young to be called Mister.

Verb

  1. To become skilled in: master a language.
  2. To overcome or bring under control.
  3. To make a master recording of.

Adjective

  1. Main or principal: the master bedroom.
  2. Highly skilled: a master builder.
  3. Controlling all the other parts of a system: a master switch.

Word family

  • masterdom
  • mastership
  • masterless
  • masterstroke
  • overmaster
  • remaster
  • master chief petty officer
  • master gunnery sergeant
  • mistress
  • mister
  • magistrate
  • maestro
  • magnitude
  • minister
  • mastery
  • masterpiece

Usage notes

A separate master, “a ship with a given number of masts”, as in three-master, is formed from mast.[10][7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ 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 o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press