master
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
master
adj 1: most important element; "the chief aim of living"; "the
main doors were of solid glass"; "the principal rivers of
America"; "the principal example"; "policemen were
primary targets"; "the master bedroom"; "a master switch"
[syn: {chief(a)}, {main(a)}, {primary(a)},
{principal(a)}, {master(a)}]
n 1: an artist of consummate skill; "a master of the violin";
"one of the old masters" [syn: {maestro}, {master}]
2: a person who has general authority over others [syn:
{overlord}, {master}, {lord}]
3: a combatant who is able to defeat rivals [syn: {victor},
{master}, {superior}]
4: directs the work of others
5: presiding officer of a school [syn: {headmaster},
{schoolmaster}, {master}]
6: an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which
copies can be made [syn: {master}, {master copy}, {original}]
7: an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship [syn:
{master}, {captain}, {sea captain}, {skipper}]
8: someone who holds a master's degree from academic institution
9: an authority qualified to teach apprentices [syn: {master},
{professional}]
10: key that secures entrance everywhere [syn: {passkey},
{passe-partout}, {master key}, {master}]
v 1: be or become completely proficient or skilled in; "She
mastered Japanese in less than two years" [syn: {master},
{get the hang}]
2: get on top of; deal with successfully; "He overcame his
shyness" [syn: {overcome}, {get over}, {subdue}, {surmount},
{master}]
3: have dominance or the power to defeat over; "Her pain
completely mastered her"; "The methods can master the
problems" [syn: {dominate}, {master}]
4: have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of; "Do
you control these data?" [syn: {master}, {control}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Master \Mas"ter\ (m[.a]s"t[~e]r), n. [OE. maistre, maister, OF.
maistre, mestre, F. ma[^i]tre, fr. L. magister, orig. a
double comparative from the root of magnus great, akin to Gr.
me`gas. Cf. {Maestro}, {Magister}, {Magistrate}, {Magnitude},
{Major}, {Mister}, {Mistress}, {Mickle}.]
1. A male person having another living being so far subject
to his will, that he can, in the main, control his or its
actions; -- formerly used with much more extensive
application than now.
(a) The employer of a servant.
(b) The owner of a slave.
(c) The person to whom an apprentice is articled.
(d) A sovereign, prince, or feudal noble; a chief, or one
exercising similar authority.
(e) The head of a household.
(f) The male head of a school or college.
(g) A male teacher.
(h) The director of a number of persons performing a
ceremony or sharing a feast.
(i) The owner of a docile brute, -- especially a dog or
horse.
(j) The controller of a familiar spirit or other
supernatural being.
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2. One who uses, or controls at will, anything inanimate; as,
to be master of one's time. --Shak.
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Master of a hundred thousand drachms. --Addison.
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We are masters of the sea. --Jowett
(Thucyd.).
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3. One who has attained great skill in the use or application
of anything; as, a master of oratorical art.
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Great masters of ridicule. --Macaulay.
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No care is taken to improve young men in their own
language, that they may thoroughly understand and be
masters of it. --Locke.
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4. A title given by courtesy, now commonly pronounced
m[i^]ster, except when given to boys; -- sometimes written
{Mister}, but usually abbreviated to Mr.
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5. A young gentleman; a lad, or small boy.
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Where there are little masters and misses in a
house, they are impediments to the diversions of the
servants. --Swift.
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6. (Naut.) The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually
called {captain}. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy
ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly,
an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under
the commander, of sailing the vessel.
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7. A person holding an office of authority among the
Freemasons, esp. the presiding officer; also, a person
holding a similar office in other civic societies.
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{Little masters}, certain German engravers of the 16th
century, so called from the extreme smallness of their
prints.
{Master in chancery}, an officer of courts of equity, who
acts as an assistant to the chancellor or judge, by
inquiring into various matters referred to him, and
reporting thereon to the court.
{Master of arts}, one who takes the second degree at a
university; also, the degree or title itself, indicated by
the abbreviation M. A., or A. M.
{Master of the horse}, the third great officer in the British
court, having the management of the royal stables, etc. In
ceremonial cavalcades he rides next to the sovereign.
{Master of the rolls}, in England, an officer who has charge
of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of
the records of the chancery, and acts as assistant judge
of the court. --Bouvier. --Wharton.
{Past master},
(a) one who has held the office of master in a lodge of
Freemasons or in a society similarly organized.
(b) a person who is unusually expert, skilled, or
experienced in some art, technique, or profession; --
usually used with at or of.
{The old masters}, distinguished painters who preceded modern
painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th
and 17th centuries.
{To be master of one's self}, to have entire self-control;
not to be governed by passion.
{To be one's own master}, to be at liberty to act as one
chooses without dictation from anybody.
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Note: Master, signifying chief, principal, masterly,
superior, thoroughly skilled, etc., is often used
adjectively or in compounds; as, master builder or
master-builder, master chord or master-chord, master
mason or master-mason, master workman or
master-workman, master mechanic, master mind, master
spirit, master passion, etc.
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Throughout the city by the master gate.
--Chaucer.
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{Master joint} (Geol.), a quarryman's term for the more
prominent and extended joints traversing a rock mass.
{Master key}, a key adapted to open several locks differing
somewhat from each other; figuratively, a rule or
principle of general application in solving difficulties.
{Master lode} (Mining), the principal vein of ore.
{Master mariner}, an experienced and skilled seaman who is
certified to be competent to command a merchant vessel.
{Master sinew} (Far.), a large sinew that surrounds the hough
of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow
place, where the windgalls are usually seated.
{Master singer}. See {Mastersinger}.
{Master stroke}, a capital performance; a masterly
achievement; a consummate action; as, a master stroke of
policy.
{Master tap} (Mech.), a tap for forming the thread in a screw
cutting die.
{Master touch}.
(a) The touch or skill of a master. --Pope.
(b) Some part of a performance which exhibits very
skillful work or treatment. "Some master touches of
this admirable piece." --Tatler.
{Master work}, the most important work accomplished by a
skilled person, as in architecture, literature, etc.;
also, a work which shows the skill of a master; a
masterpiece.
{Master workman}, a man specially skilled in any art,
handicraft, or trade, or who is an overseer, foreman, or
employer.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Master \Mas"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Mastered}; p. pr. vb. n.
{Mastering}.]
1. To become the master of; to subject to one's will,
control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to
subdue.
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Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered,
even though it cost blows. --Locke.
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2. To gain the command of, so as to understand or apply; to
become an adept in; as, to master a science.
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3. To own; to posses. [Obs.]
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The wealth
That the world masters. --Shak.
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from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
MASTER. This word has several meanings. 1. Master is one who has control
over a servant or apprentice. A master stands in relation to his
apprentices, in loco parentis, and is bound to fulfill that relation, which
the law generally enforces. He is also entitled to be obeyed by his
apprentices, as if they were his children. Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t.
2.-2. Master is one who is employed in teaching children, known
generally as a schoolmaster; as to his powers, see Correction.
3.-3. Master is the name of an officer: as, the ship Benjamin
Franklin, whereof A B is master; the master of the rolls; master in
chancery, &c.
4.-4. By master is also understood a principal who employs another to
perform some act or do something for him. The law having adopted the maxim
of the civil law, qui facit per alium facit per se; the agent is but an
instrument, and the master is civilly responsible for the act of his agent,
as if it were his own, when he either commands him to do an act, or puts him
in a condition, of which such act is a result, or by the absence of due care
and control, either previously in the choice of his agent, or immediately in
the act itself, negligently suffers him to do an injury. Story, Ag. Sec.
454, note; Noy's Max. c. 44; Salk. 282; 1 East. R. 106; 1 Bos. & Pul. 404; 2
H. Bl. 267; 5 Barn. & Cr. 547; 2 Taunt. R. 314; 4 Taunt. R. 649; Mass. 364,
385; 17 Mass. 479, 509; 1 Pick. 47 5; 4 Watts, 222; 2 Harr. & Gill., 316; 6
Cowen, 189; 8 Pick. 23; 5 Munf. 483. Vide Agent; Agency; Driver; Servant.
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
500 Moby Thesaurus words for "master":
A per se, JA, OD, abecedarian, absorb, academic dean, ace, adept,
administration, administrator, all-absorbing, amicus curiae,
ancestors, appreciate, apprehend, apprentice, arch, architect,
art object, artificer, artisan, artist, artiste, ascendant,
assessor, assimilate, at the head, attain mastery of, author,
authority, baccalaureate, baccalaureus, bachelor, banner,
barmaster, basic, be with one, beat down, become adept in,
begetter, beginner, bend, beneficiary, best, bestride, big boss,
big cheese, big wheel, biggest, boatswain, boss, boy, brainchild,
break, break down, bric-a-brac, bridle, bring low, bring to terms,
bub, bubba, buck, bud, buddy, builder, capital, captain, cardinal,
castellan, catch, catch on, central, certified teacher, cestui,
cestui que trust, cestui que use, champ, champion, chancellor,
chatelain, chatelaine, check, chief, chief engineer, chief mate,
chieftain, circuit judge, classic, colt, commandant, commander,
commanding, composition, comprehend, conceive, conceiver, conquer,
conquering hero, conqueror, conquistador, constructor, control,
controller, controlling, copyist, crack, crackerjack, craftsman,
craftswoman, creation, creator, crowning, crush, cub, dauber,
daubster, dean, dean of men, dean of women, deck officer,
deedholder, defeater, degree, design, designer, deviser, dictate,
dig, digest, director, discoverer, docent, doctor, doctorate,
domesticize, domiciliate, dominant, dominate, dominie, don, down,
doyen, doyenne, easy winner, educationist, educator, effector,
elder, elder statesman, employer, engenderer, engineer, executive,
executor, executrix, expert, father, fathom, fell, fellow, feoffee,
feudatory, first, first-rater, flatten, fledgling, focal, follow,
foremost, founder, fugleman, gaffer, general, generator, genius,
get, get down cold, get down pat, get hold of, get taped,
get the drift, get the idea, get the picture, get up on, good hand,
govern, governing, governor, grasp, great, great soul, grotesque,
grower, guide, guru, handicraftsman, have, have it taped,
have the ascendancy, head, headmaster, headmistress, headmost,
hegemonic, hegemonistic, hero, high priest, higher-up, highest,
hobbledehoy, householder, humble, humiliate, hurdle, illuminate,
important person, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief,
in the ascendant, inaugurator, industrialist, ingenious, initiator,
instigator, institutor, instructor, intellect, intellectual,
intendant, introducer, inventor, journeyman, judge advocate,
judge ordinary, jurat, justice in eyre, justice of assize, ken,
kingfish, kingpin, kitsch, know, know well, lad, laddie, laird,
landlady, landlord, laureate, lay judge, leader, leading, learn,
learn the ropes, legal assessor, lick, lord, lover of wisdom,
maestro, magician, magisterial, mahatma, main, maker,
man of genius, man of intellect, man of wisdom, manager, manchild,
mandarin, manufacturer, master carpenter, master craftsman,
master hand, masterful, masterly, mastermind, masterpiece,
masterwork, mate, maven, mechanic, melamed, mentor, mesne,
mesne lord, military judge, mistress, mobile, monarch, mother,
muchacho, mullah, museum piece, naval officer, navigating officer,
navigator, nonpareil, nude, old hand, old master, ombudsman,
oracle, ordinary, organizer, originator, overall, overbearing,
overcome, overmaster, override, overriding, overruling, overseer,
overwhelm, owner, pancratiast, pandit, paragon, paramount,
paramour, past, past master, pasticcio, pastiche, patron,
pedagogist, pedagogue, personage, philosopher, pick up, piece,
piece of virtu, pipes, planner, play first fiddle, police judge,
practiced hand, preceptor, precursor, predominant, predominate,
preeminent, premier, prentice, prepollent, preponderant,
preponderate, prepotent, president, presiding judge, prevail,
prevailing, prevalent, primal, primary, prime, prime mover,
principal, pro, probate judge, prodigy, producer, professional,
professor, proficient, proprietary, proprietor, proprietress,
proprietrix, provost, puisne judge, pundit, pup, puppy, put down,
quartermaster, quell, rabbi, raiser, ranking, read, realize,
realizer, recorder, rector, reduce, regnant, regulating,
regulative, regulatory, reigning, rentier, repress, ride down,
rishi, rule, rule the roost, ruler, ruling, runner-up, sage,
sailing master, sapient, savant, savvy, scholar, schoolboy,
schoolkeeper, schoolmaster, schoolteacher, second mate, seer,
seize, seize the meaning, senior, sense, shaper, shipmaster,
shoo-in, sire, skilled, skilled hand, skillful, skipper, smash,
smith, sonny, sonny boy, sovereign, squire, stabile, star, starets,
statue, stellar, still life, study, subdue, subduer, subjugate,
subjugator, supereminent, superintendent, superior, superman,
superstar, supervisor, suppress, supreme, sure winner, surmount,
take, take in, take the lead, tame, taskmaster, teacher,
technician, the Old Man, the greatest, the most, thinker, throw,
titleholder, top dog, topflight, topmost, topnotcher, trample down,
trample underfoot, tread underfoot, triumph, triumpher, tutor,
twist, tyrannize, understand, unman, uppermost, vanquish,
vanquisher, vice-chancellor, victor, virtu, virtuoso,
watch officer, wear the pants, whelp, whiz, winner, wise man,
wise old man, wizard, work, work of art, wright, young man,
youth
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