master

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

The owner of an animal or slave.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

master

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmæstɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

The owner of an animal or slave.
Someone who has control over something or someone.
nautical
An officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship
A person who has general authority over others
An authority qualified to teach apprentices
A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.

adjective

Highly skilled.
Original.
Main, principal or predominant.
Masterful.

verb

transitive
To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
Be or become completely proficient or skilled in
“She mastered Japanese in less than two years.”
transitive
To learn to a high degree of proficiency.
transitiveespecially of a musical performance
To make a master copy of.
intransitiveusually with in
To earn a Master's degree.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary
Frequency: Very Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The owner of an animal or slave.

Used this way, master is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use master

“She mastered Japanese in less than two years.”verb
“A master of the violin.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

master planmaster filemaster bedroom

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

mastnounBase word
A vertical spar for supporting sails.
masteringnounInflected form
Becoming proficient in the use of something.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

master of library sciencenounCompound term
A master's degree in library science.
master of literaturenounCompound term
A master's degree in literature.
master of sciencenounCompound term
A master's degree in science.
master of science in engineeringnounCompound term
A master's degree in engineering.
master of theologynounCompound term
A master's degree in theology.
master plannounCompound term
A long-term outline of a project or government function.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.