mask English · revision 6045

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1534|origins=la-med masca}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /mɑːsk/, US /mæsk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|masque|t=covering to hide or protect the face]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from Italian [[m|it|maschera]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) probably from Medieval Latin [[m|la-med|masca|t=mask, spectre, witch, nightmare]], a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) Some derive it from an Arabic word for a buffoon, from a verb meaning to ridicule,^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) which NODE takes as at least an influence;^(NODE 1998) Etymonline also gives a southern French origin, [[oc|mascarar|t=to blacken]], from a pre-Indo-European root mask- “black”, after Wartburg.^(Etymonline) Barnhart notes the parallel of [[la|lārva]], also both ghost and mask.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A covering for the face, worn as a disguise: 1534.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Skeat held that the masked entertainment was the earlier English sense and the disguise secondary.^(Skeat 1911) The figurative sense, anything used to disguise or conceal, a pretence, is from 1577,^(OED 1989) the 1570s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and a protective face covering from 1591.^(OED 1989) The hollow head worn by ancient Greek and Roman actors is from 1705,^(OED 1989) and a likeness of a face in wax or plaster, as a [[death mask]], from 1780.^(OED 1989) The verb meant first to take part in a [[masquerade]] (1560), then to disguise (1579),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and the military sense, to hide a gun battery from the enemy, is from 1706.^(Etymonline) [[masking tape|alt=Masking tape]], used to block out surfaces before painting, is from 1927.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1534 – a covering for the face.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560 – to take part in a masquerade.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1577 – a pretence, a cloak.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1579 – to disguise.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1591 – a protective covering.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1705 – an actor's mask in antiquity.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1927 – masking tape.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A covering worn over all or part of the face to [[disguise]] or [[protect]] it, or for amusement.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that conceals: ''a mask of indifference''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A likeness of a face cast in a material such as [[plaster]] or wax.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device covering the nose and mouth, used to supply [[oxygen]] or anaesthetic or to filter the air.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cover with a mask.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To hide or [[conceal]]; to make indistinct.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cover part of a surface to protect it, as during painting.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maskable]]

+ * [[masklike]]

+ * [[facemask]]

+ * [[photomask]]

+ * [[masked]]

+ * [[unmask]]

+ * [[death mask]]

+ * [[gas mask]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mascara]]

+ * [[masking tape]]

+ * [[masquerade]]

+ * [[masque]]

+ * [[mascot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An unrelated mask, mesh or to enmesh, survived only in dialect.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) In Yorkshire dialect mask was also the face, with no idea of disguise.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}