Master

Master, mas′tėr, n. one who commands: a lord or owner: a leader or ruler: a teacher: an employer: the commander of a merchant-ship: formerly the navigator or sailing-master of a ship-of-war: one eminently skilled in anything: the common title of address to a young gentleman, &c.: a title of dignity or office—a degree conferred by universities, as Master of Arts, &c., the title of the eldest son of a Scotch viscount or baron, the head of some corporations, as Balliol College, &c., of a lodge of freemasons, &c.: a husband.—adj. the chief, predominant: belonging to a master, chief, principal, as in Master-builder, &c.—v.t. to become master of: to overcome: to become skilful in: to execute with skill.—ns. Mas′ter-build′er, a chief builder, one who directs or employs others; Mas′terdom, power of control.—adj. Mas′terful, exercising the authority or power of a master: imperious: having the skill of a master.—adv. Mas′terfully, in a masterful or imperious manner.—ns. Mas′terfulness; Mas′ter-hand, the hand of a master: a person highly skilled; Mas′terhood; Mas′ter-joint, the most marked system of joints or divisional planes by which a rock is intersected; Mas′terkey, a key that opens many locks: a clue fitted to guide one out of many difficulties.—adj. Mas′terless, without a master or owner: ungoverned: unsubdued: beyond control.—n. Mas′terliness, quality of being masterly: masterly skill.—adj. Mas′terly, like a master: with the skill of a master: skilful: excellent: overbearing.—adv. with the skill of a master.—ns. Mas′ter-mar′iner, the captain of a merchant-vessel or fishing-vessel; Mas′ter-mā′son, a freemason who has attained the third degree; Mas′ter-mind; Mas′ter-pass′ion; Mas′terpiece, a piece of work worthy of a master: a work of superior skill: chief excellence; Mas′tership, the office of master: rule or dominion: superiority; Mas′terstroke, a stroke or performance worthy of a master: superior performance; Mas′ter-wheel, the wheel in a machine which imparts motion to other parts; Mas′ter-work, work worthy of a master: masterpiece; Mas′terwort, a perennial umbelliferous herb, native to northern Europe, its root reputed as a stomachic, sudorific, diuretic, &c.; Mas′tery, the power or authority of a master: dominion: victory: superiority: the attainment of superior power or skill.—Master of ceremonies, of the Rolls, &c. (see Ceremonies, Rolls, &c.); Master of the horse, the Roman Magister Equitum, an official appointed by the dictator to act next under himself: an equerry, esp. the exalted official bearing this name at the British court; Master of the Temple, the preacher of the Temple Church in London; Masters of the schools, at Oxford, the conductors of the first examination (Responsions) for the degree of B.A.—Masterly inactivity, the position or part of a neutral or a Fabian combatant, carried out with diplomatic skill, so as to preserve a predominant influence without risking anything.—Passed, or Past, master, one who has occupied the office of master, esp. among freemasons—hence any one known to possess ample knowledge of some subject; The little masters, a 16th-17th cent. group of followers of Dürer, notable for fine work on wood and copper; The old masters, a term applied collectively to the great painters about the time of the Renaissance, esp. the Italians.—Be master of one's self, to have one's passions or emotions under control. [O. Fr. maistre (Fr. maître)—L. magister, from root of magnus, great.]