Mask

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /mɑːsk/
• US IPA: /mæsk/
• Rhymes: -æsk, -ɑːsk

From Middle English maske, from Old English max, *masc ("net"), from Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ ("mesh, netting, mask"), from Proto-Indo-European *mozgʷ-, *mezgʷ- ("to knit, tie"). Cognate with Dutch maas ("mesh"), German Masche ("mesh"), Icelandic möskvi ("mesh").

Full definition of mask

Noun

1. A mesh.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.

From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc ("mash"). More at mash.

Noun

1. (UK dialectal) Mash.

Verb

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To mash.
2. (transitive, UK dialectal) (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.
3. (UK dialectal, Scotland) To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.

From Middle English masken, short for *maskeren, malskren ("to bewilder; be confused, wander"). More at masker.

Verb

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To bewilder; confuse.

From Middle French masque ("a covering to hide or protect the face"), from Italian maschera ("mask, disguise"), from Medieval Latin masca, mascha, mascus ("mask, nightmare, ghost"), of uncertain origin. Replaced Old English grīma ("mask").

Medieval Latin masca, mascha, mascus may represent the merger of two or more words: 1). a word from Old Frankish *maska, *maskra (), from Proto-Germanic *maskwǭ ("mesh, mask"), from Proto-Indo-European *mezgʷ- ("to knit, twist"), from the practice of wearing mesh netting over the face as a mask to filter air, keeping soot and dust particles from entering the lungs (compare surgical mask, gas mask, etc.); 2). Old French mascurer (), from a stem *maska, *mask- ("black") believed to be of Pre-Indo-European origin giving rise to words meaning "witch, wizard, sorcerer" (compare Old Provencal masco ("witch"), Occitan masca ("witch"), French masque ("brothel-keeper, witch")); and perhaps another 3). from Arabic مسخرة (maskhara(t), "buffoon, fool, pleasantry, anything ridiculous"), from سخرة (sakhira, "to ridicule, to laugh at").

• Derived from the -r- form: Italian maschera, Spanish and Portuguese máscara, Dutch masker, English masquerade.
• Derived from the form lacking -r-: German Maske and Swedish mask.

EWddS|ed=22

Alternative forms

Noun

1. A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask
2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel; a frolic; a delusive show - Francis Bacon
• unknown date John Milton:This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask.
4. (obsolete) A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
5. (architecture) A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like; -- called also mascaron.
6. (fortification) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
7. (fortification) A screen for a battery
8. (zoology) The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
9. (Puebloan, anthropology) A ceremonial object used in Puebloan kachina cults that resembles a Euro-American masks. (The term is objected as an appropriate translation by Puebloan peoples as it emphasizes imitation but ignores power and representational intent.)
10. (computing, programming) A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
11. (computer graphics) A two-color (black and white) bitmap generated from an image, used to create transparency in the image.

Hyponyms

• (A cover for the face) domino mask, sleep mask

Derived terms

Verb

1. (transitive) To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.
• unknown date Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, IV,vi:They must all be masked and vizarded
2. (transitive) To disguise; to cover; to hide.
• unknown date Shakespeare, Macbeth, III-i:Masking the business from the common eye
3. (transitive, military) To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of.
4. (transitive, military) To cover or keep in check.to mask a body of troops or a fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out
5. (intransitive) To take part as a masker in a masquerade
6. (intransitive) To wear a mask; to be disguised in any way
7. (transitive, computing) To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask.
• 1993, Richard E. Haskell, Introduction to computer engineering (page 287)That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero. This is because ANDing anything with a zero produces a zero, while ANDing any bit with a 1 leaves the bit unchanged...
8. (transitive, computing) To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by unsetting the associated bit.
• 1998, Rick Grehan, ‎Robert Moote, ‎Ingo Cyliax, Real-time programming: a guide to 32-bit embedded developmentWhen should you mask a specific interrupt, rather than disabling all interrupts?

Anagrams

• maks