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
Degree \De*gree"\, n. [F. degr['e], OF. degret, fr. LL.
degradare. See {Degrade}.]
1. A step, stair, or staircase. [Obs.]
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By ladders, or else by degree. --Rom. of R.
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2. One of a series of progressive steps upward or downward,
in quality, rank, acquirement, and the like; a stage in
progression; grade; gradation; as, degrees of vice and
virtue; to advance by slow degrees; degree of comparison.
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3. The point or step of progression to which a person has
arrived; rank or station in life; position. "A dame of
high degree." --Dryden. "A knight is your degree." --Shak.
"Lord or lady of high degree." --Lowell.
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4. Measure of advancement; quality; extent; as, tastes differ
in kind as well as in degree.
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The degree of excellence which proclaims genius, is
different in different times and different places.
--Sir. J.
Reynolds.
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5. Grade or rank to which scholars are admitted by a college
or university, in recognition of their attainments; also,
(informal) the diploma provided by an educational
institution attesting to the achievement of that rank; as,
the degree of bachelor of arts, master, doctor, etc.; to
hang one's degrees on the office wall.
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Note: In the United States diplomas are usually given as the
evidence of a degree conferred. In the humanities the
first degree is that of {bachelor of arts} (B. A. or A.
B.); the second that of {master of arts} (M. A. or A.
M.). The degree of bachelor (of arts, science,
divinity, law, etc.) is conferred upon those who
complete a prescribed course of undergraduate study.
The first degree in medicine is that of {doctor of
medicine} (M. D.). The degrees of master and doctor are
also conferred, in course, upon those who have
completed certain prescribed postgraduate studies, as
{doctor of philosophy} (Ph. D.); the degree of doctor
is also conferred as a complimentary recognition of
eminent services in science or letters, or for public
services or distinction (as {doctor of laws} (LL. D.)
or {doctor of divinity} (D. D.), when they are called
{honorary degrees}.
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The youth attained his bachelor's degree, and
left the university. --Macaulay.
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6. (Genealogy) A certain distance or remove in the line of
descent, determining the proximity of blood; one remove in
the chain of relationship; as, a relation in the third or
fourth degree.
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In the 11th century an opinion began to gain ground
in Italy, that third cousins might marry, being in
the seventh degree according to the civil law.
--Hallam.
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7. (Arith.) Three figures taken together in numeration; thus,
140 is one degree, 222,140 two degrees.
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8. (Algebra) State as indicated by sum of exponents; more
particularly, the degree of a term is indicated by the sum
of the exponents of its literal factors; thus, a^{2}b^{3}c
is a term of the sixth degree. The degree of a power, or
radical, is denoted by its index, that of an equation by
the greatest sum of the exponents of the unknown
quantities in any term; thus, ax^{4} + bx^{2} = c, and
mx^{2}y^{2} + nyx = p, are both equations of the fourth
degree.
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9. (Trig.) A 360th part of the circumference of a circle,
which part is taken as the principal unit of measure for
arcs and angles. The degree is divided into 60 minutes and
the minute into 60 seconds.
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10. A division, space, or interval, marked on a mathematical
or other instrument, as on a thermometer.
11. (Mus.) A line or space of the staff.
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Note: The short lines and their spaces are added degrees.
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{Accumulation of degrees}. (Eng. Univ.) See under
{Accumulation}.
{By degrees}, step by step; by little and little; by moderate
advances. "I'll leave it by degrees." --Shak.
{Degree of a curve} or {Degree of a surface} (Geom.), the
number which expresses the degree of the equation of the
curve or surface in rectilinear coordinates. A straight
line will, in general, meet the curve or surface in a
number of points equal to the degree of the curve or
surface and no more.
{Degree of latitude} (Geog.), on the earth, the distance on a
meridian between two parallels of latitude whose latitudes
differ from each other by one degree. This distance is not
the same on different parts of a meridian, on account of
the flattened figure of the earth, being 68.702 statute
miles at the equator, and 69.396 at the poles.
{Degree of longitude}, the distance on a parallel of latitude
between two meridians that make an angle of one degree
with each other at the poles -- a distance which varies as
the cosine of the latitude, being at the equator 69.16
statute miles.
{To a degree}, to an extreme; exceedingly; as, mendacious to
a degree.
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It has been said that Scotsmen . . . are . . . grave
to a degree on occasions when races more favored by
nature are gladsome to excess. --Prof.
Wilson.
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