MASTER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does master mean? 

• MASTER (noun)
  The noun MASTER has 10 senses:

1. an artist of consummate skill

2. a person who has general authority over others

3. a combatant who is able to defeat rivals

4. directs the work of others

5. presiding officer of a school

6. an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

7. an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship

8. someone who holds a master's degree from academic institution

9. an authority qualified to teach apprentices

10. key that secures entrance everywhere

  Familiarity information: MASTER used as a noun is familiar.

• MASTER (adjective)
  The adjective MASTER has 1 sense:

1. most important element

  Familiarity information: MASTER used as an adjective is very rare.

• MASTER (verb)
  The verb MASTER has 4 senses:

1. be or become completely proficient or skilled in

2. get on top of; deal with successfully

3. have dominance or the power to defeat over

4. have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of

  Familiarity information: MASTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MASTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An artist of consummate skill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

maestro; master

Context example:

one of the old masters

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

artist; creative person (a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

old master (a great European painter prior to 19th century)

Derivation:

master (have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of)

master (be or become completely proficient or skilled in)

masterly (having or revealing supreme mastery or skill)

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who has general authority over others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

lord; master; overlord

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

ruler; swayer (a person who rules or commands)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

feudal lord; seigneur; seignior (a man of rank in the ancient regime)

Derivation:

master (have dominance or the power to defeat over)

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A combatant who is able to defeat rivals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

master; superior; victor

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

battler; belligerent; combatant; fighter; scrapper (someone who fights (or is fighting))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

conqueror; vanquisher (someone who is victorious by force of arms)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Directs the work of others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

employer (a person or firm that employs workers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

postmaster (the person in charge of a post office)

spymaster (someone who directs clandestine intelligence activities)

station agent; stationmaster (the person in charge of a railway station)

Derivation:

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Presiding officer of a school

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

headmaster; master; schoolmaster

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

head; head teacher; principal; school principal (the educator who has executive authority for a school)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

housemaster (teacher in charge of a school boardinghouse)

Derivation:

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

master; master copy; original

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

creation (an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone)

Sense 7

Meaning:

An officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

captain; master; sea captain; skipper

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

officer; ship's officer (a person authorized to serve in a position of authority on a vessel)

Instance hyponyms:

Captain Kidd; Kidd; William Kidd (Scottish sea captain who was hired to protect British shipping in the Indian Ocean and then was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701))

Derivation:

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Someone who holds a master's degree from academic institution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

bookman; scholar; scholarly person; student (a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines)

Sense 9

Meaning:

An authority qualified to teach apprentices

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

master; professional

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

authority (an expert whose views are taken as definitive)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

past master (someone who was formerly a master)

Derivation:

masterly (having or revealing supreme mastery or skill)

mastership (the position of master)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Key that secures entrance everywhere

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

master; master key; passe-partout; passkey

Hypernyms ("master" is a kind of...):

key (metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "master"):

skeleton key (a passkey with much of the bit filed away so that it can open different locks)

• MASTER (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Most important element

Synonyms:

chief; main; master; primary; principal

Context example:

a master switch

Similar:

important; of import (of great significance or value)

• MASTER (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be or become completely proficient or skilled in

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

get the hang; master

Context example:

She mastered Japanese in less than two years

Hypernyms (to "master" is one way to...):

know (know how to do or perform something)

"Master" entails doing...:

acquire; larn; learn (gain knowledge or skills)

drill; exercise; practice; practise (learn by repetition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

master (an artist of consummate skill)

mastering (becoming proficient in the use of something; having mastery of)

mastery (great skillfulness and knowledge of some subject or activity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get on top of; deal with successfully

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

get over; master; overcome; subdue; surmount

Context example:

He overcame his shyness

Hypernyms (to "master" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "master"):

bulldog (throw a steer by seizing the horns and twisting the neck, as in a rodeo)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have dominance or the power to defeat over

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

dominate; master

Context example:

The methods can master the problems

Hypernyms (to "master" is one way to...):

command; control (exercise authoritative control or power over)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "master"):

command (be in command of)

subject; subjugate (make subservient; force to submit or subdue)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

master (a person who has general authority over others)

mastery (the act of mastering or subordinating someone)

mastery (power to dominate or defeat)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

control; master

Context example:

Do you control these data?

Hypernyms (to "master" is one way to...):

know (know how to do or perform something)

"Master" entails doing...:

understand (know and comprehend the nature or meaning of)

Verb group:

control; operate (handle and cause to function)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "master"):

cinch (get a grip on; get mastery of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

master (an artist of consummate skill)

 Context examples 

The Outsides were timid and frightened, the Insides without confidence in their masters.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Let me see your master, or it’ll be the worse for you.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

NPs are master's degree prepared health experts that focus on helping patients achieve total health and prevent disease.

(Nurse practitioner, NCI Thesaurus)

The pituitary is the "master control gland" - it makes hormones that affect growth and the functions of other glands in the body.

(Pituitary Disorders, NIH)

Is my master not here, sir?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When I appeared on deck the master said, “Here is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The pituitary is the "master control gland" - it makes hormones that affect growth and the functions of other glands in the body.

(Pituitary Tumors, NIH)

I have been so long master that I would be master still—or at least that none other should be master of me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The boy hesitated, then mastered his temper.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The absence of estrogen receptor or of MTA3 leads to aberrant expression of the transcriptional repressor Snail, a master regulator of epithelial to mesenchymal transitions.

(MTA3 Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)