Mastersinger
(Mas"ter*sing`er) n. [A translation of G. meistersänger.] One of a class of poets which
flourished in Nuremberg and some other cities of Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. They bound
themselves to observe certain arbitrary laws of rhythm.
Masterwort
(Mas"ter*wort`) n. (Bot.) (a) A tall and coarse European umbelliferous plant (Peucedanum
Ostruthium, formerly Imperatoria). (b) The Astrantia major, a European umbelliferous plant with a
showy colored involucre. (c) Improperly, the cow parsnip
Mastery
(Mas"ter*y) n.; pl. Masteries [OF. maistrie.]
1. The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority.
If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops.
Sir W. Raleigh. 2. Superiority in war or competition; victory; triumph; preëminence.
The voice of them that shout for mastery.
Ex. xxxii. 18.
Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
1 Cor. ix. 25.
O, but to have gulled him
Had been a mastery.
B. Jonson. 3. Contest for superiority. [Obs.] Holland.
4. A masterly operation; a feat. [Obs.]
I will do a maistrie ere I go.
Chaucer. 5. Specifically, the philosopher's stone. [Obs.]
6. The act process of mastering; the state of having mastered.
He could attain to a mastery in all languages.
Tillotson.
The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other
difficulties.
Locke. Mastful
(Mast"ful) a. [See lst Mast.] Abounding in mast; producing mast in abundance; as, the mastful
forest; a mastful chestnut. Dryden.
Masthead
(Mast"head`) n. (Naut.) The top or head of a mast; the part of a mast above the hounds.
Masthead
(Mast"head"), v. t. (Naut.) To cause to go to the masthead as a punishment. Marryat.
Masthouse
(Mast"house`) n. A building in which vessels' masts are shaped, fitted, etc.
Mastic
(Mas"tic) n. [F., fr. L. mastiche, mastichum, Gr. fr. to chew, because of its being used in the
East for chewing.] [Written also mastich.]
1. (Bot.) A low shrubby tree of the genus Pistacia growing upon the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean,
and producing a valuable resin; — called also, mastic tree.
2. A resin exuding from the mastic tree, and obtained by incision. The best is in yellowish white, semitransparent
tears, of a faint smell, and is used as an astringent and an aromatic, also as an ingredient in varnishes.
3. A kind of cement composed of burnt clay, litharge, and linseed oil, used for plastering walls, etc.
