master

Less common meanings

14. 14
    conquerverbtransitive

    To bring under one's control or will; to conquer or subdue.

    He worked for years to master his temper.

    It took every ounce of will he had to master the panic rising in his chest.

    Similarcontrol, conquer, subdue, overcome, tame

    Note

    The force doing the mastering can be the subject. In John Meade Falkner's Moonfleet (1898), Elzevir asks whether "the liquor mastered you." The verb runs both ways: a person can master a force, or a force can master a person. Locke's line that "obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered" shows the passive used comfortably with faults of character. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • John Meade Falkner wrote Moonfleet. gutenberg.org
    • Moonfleet was first published in 1898. openlibrary.org
    • Elzevir asks whether the liquor has mastered his listeners; the quoted words are exact. gutenberg.org
    • Locke wrote the quoted words, using the passive about faults of character. edtechbooks.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
15. 15
    adjective

    Being the original version from which reproductions are made.

    The editor stored the master document on a separate drive.

    We never edit the master recording directly.

    Similaroriginal

    Oppositeduplicate

16. 16
    control devicenouncountable

    A device that controls other connected devices, or that serves as the authoritative source they follow.

    In this setup, the master coordinates the clocks of all the attached drives.

    Engineers reconfigured the master so the backup unit could take over its role.

    UsageOften before a noun (master database). Many teams now prefer primary and secondary to master and slave.

    Similarprimary, coordinator

    Oppositesecondary, slave, worker

    Note

    The engineering sense most often stands before another noun, as in a master wheel or a master database, and names whichever unit the others follow. Its traditional partner is slave, a pairing that echoes the slave owner's meaning. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The traditional technical pairing master/slave evokes the relationship between a slave owner and an enslaved person. en.wikipedia.org
17. 17
    ship captainnouncountable

    The person in command of a merchant ship, holding a master mariner's qualification.

    The master logged the storm damage before the ship reached port.

    As master, she answered to the shipowner for every ton of cargo.

    Similarcaptain, skipper

    Note

    Merchant shipping keeps the old title. The officer in command is the master, and a master mariner is someone qualified for that post; captain and skipper name the same person. Keep it apart from the -master of a two-master, which counts masts and is a separate word altogether. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Master is a longstanding merchant-shipping title. rmg.co.uk
    • A master mariner holds a qualification permitting service as master of a merchant ship. en.wikipedia.org
    • The element master in two-master derives separately from mast plus -er and denotes a vessel with a specified number of masts. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    dominant (sex)nouncountable

    A man who occupies the dominant role within a BDSM relationship or encounter.

    The agreement spelled out what the master could and could not ask of her.

    In their scenes she called him her master, a role they had negotiated carefully, with a safe word she could use at any time.

    Similardom, dominant

    Oppositesubmissive, slave

    Note

    A role name within BDSM, specifically for a man, that borrows the vocabulary of control over someone. Because master has so many everyday senses, this meaning depends on context. In a neutral sentence a reader will take the word in one of its ordinary senses first. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The BDSM role name draws on the ordinary sense of master as someone exercising control. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    skeleton keynounabbreviationellipsis

    Short for master key: a key that opens all the locks in a set, such as every room in a building.

    Hotel staff each keep a master that opens all the guest rooms.

    She lost the master and had to rekey the entire floor.

    UsageWhere the meaning is unclear, say master key in full.

    Note

    A clipped form that still takes an ordinary plural. Jane M. Wiggins's Facilities Manager's Desk Reference describes "masters and submasters" controlling suites of rooms, which implies a ladder of keys running from the one that opens everything down to those that open a group. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Master is an elliptical form of master key. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jane M. Wiggins's Facilities Manager's Desk Reference uses the quoted words about keys controlling suites of rooms. irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com
    • Master-key systems have a hierarchy, with higher-level keys and keys opening subsets of locks. uvapolicy.virginia.edu
20. 20
    boy's titlenoundated

    A title of address for a man or boy, equivalent to mister, now used chiefly for boys too young for the adult form.

    The invitation named Master Edward Ashby among the guests.

    Where there are little Maſters and Miſſes in a Houſe, they are uſually great Impediments to the Diverſions of the Servants;

    1731, [Jonathan] Swift, Directions to Servants

    UsageCapitalized before a boy's name: Master William, mostly on invitations and in letters or historical writing.

    Note

    A courtesy title whose feminine partner was Miss. Jonathan Swift's Directions to Servants (written 1731) complains that the "little Masters and Misses" of a house get in the way of the servants' amusements. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Master and Miss were paired courtesy titles for boys and girls. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jonathan Swift wrote Directions to Servants. en.wikipedia.org
    • 1731 is a recognized composition date, explicitly distinguished here from the first-publication year, 1745. en.wiktionary.org
    • The essay contains the quoted phrase and describes the children as obstacles to the servants' amusements. en.wikisource.org
21. 21
    school teachernoundatedcountable

    A man employed to teach at a school.

    The new master took the senior boys for Latin each morning.

    Pupils feared the master who taught mathematics.

    UsageFor today's schools, teacher is the usual word.

    Similarteacher, schoolteacher

    Note

    A schoolroom title with deep roots: magister, the Latin word behind this sense of master, already meant 'teacher'. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Master in the schoolteacher sense ultimately derives from Latin magister. en.wiktionary.org
    • Latin magister meant teacher. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    earn a degreeverbintransitive

    To complete and earn a master's degree.

    UsageFollowed by in: he mastered in English (earned a degree), unlike he mastered English (learned it well).

23. 23
    MA holdernouncountable

    A person who holds a master's degree in a particular field.

    Having become a Master of Public Health, he moved back home to run the county's vaccination program.

    Listed among this year's graduates were twelve Masters of Engineering and three Doctors of Philosophy.

24. 24
    court officernouncountable

    A parajudicial officer appointed to assist a court with its proceedings, such as a referee, auditor, or examiner.

    The judge referred the dispute over damages to a master for detailed accounting.

    The master took testimony from both sides before drafting a report.

    Note

    One title covers a whole family of court-appointed helpers: referee, auditor, examiner, assessor. Their powers can run deep. A case may be "tried by a master" who then rules on who the equitable owners of a property are, so the word names a working legal role, not an honorary one. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The legal title master encompasses referees, auditors, examiners, and assessors appointed to assist courts. ilnd.uscourts.gov
    • The quoted wording appears in Wiktionary's example of the legal sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • A master can hear a property case and reach conclusions about equitable ownership; this occurred in Laurin v. DeCarolis Construction Company. law.justia.com
25. 25
    nouncountable

    The primary wide shot of a scene, filmed to cover the full action, into which closer shots are edited later.

    Always get a clean master before moving in for the close-ups.

    The editor cut between the master and the two-shot to keep the dialogue flowing.

    Note

    On a film set the word carries the same idea as the original recording: the master is the authoritative whole, and close-ups are pieces cut into it. Establishing shot and long shot overlap with it. Master names the shot's place in the edit, as the base everything else returns to. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • A master shot covers the scene's full action. adobe.com
    • Shots of close-up detail can be edited into a master shot. blog.nfb.ca
    • A master shot can also be a long shot or an establishing shot. en.wikipedia.org
26. 26
    verbintransitive

    To hold or exercise the position of a master; to be in command.

    Similarcommand, rule, lead, govern

    Oppositeobey, submit, defer, serve

27. 27
    verbobsolete

    To have something as one's property.