M`ASTER, n. [L. magister, compounded of the root of magis, major, greater.]

1. A man who rules, governs or directs either men or business. A man who owns slaves is their master; he who has servants is their master; he who has apprentices is their master, as he has the government and direction of them. The man who superintends and directs any business, is master, or master workman. O thou my friend, my genius, come along, / Thou master of the poet and the song. Pope. Nations that want protectors, will have master. Ames.
2. A director, head, or chief manager; as, the master of a feast.
3. The owner; proprietor; with the idea of governing. The master of a house may be the owner, or the occupant, who has a temporary right of governing it. It would be believed that he rather took the horse for his subject, than his master. Dryden.
4. A lord; a ruler; one who has supreme dominion. Caesar, the world's great master and his own. Pope.
5. A chief; a principal; as, the master root of a plant. Mortimer. One master passion swallows up the rest. Pope.
6. One who has possession, and the power of controlling or using at pleasure. When I have made myself master of a hundred thousand drachmas. Addison.
7. The commander of a merchant ship.
8. In ships of war, an officer who takes rank immediately after the lieutenants, and navigates the ship under the direction of the captain.
9. The director of a school; a teacher; an instructor. In this sense the word is giving place to the more appropriate words, teacher, instructor, and preceptor; at least it is so in the United States.
10. One uncontrolled. Let every man be master of his time. Shak.
11. An appellation of respect. Master doctor, you have brought those drugs. Shak.
12. An appellation given to young men. Where there are little masters and misses in a house. Swift.
13. A man eminently or perfectly skilled in any occupation, art or science. We say, a man is master of his business; a great master of music, of the flute or violin; a master of his subject, &c.
14. A title of dignity in colleges and universities; as, Master of Arts.
15. The chief of a society; as, the Grand Master of Malta, of free-masons, &c.
16. The director of ceremonies at public places, or on public occasions.
17. The president of a college. England. Master in chancery, an assistant of the lord chancellor, chosen from among the barristers to sit in chancery, or at the rolls. Encyc. Master of the rolls, an officer who has charge of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of the records of the chancery. Encyc. To be master of one's self, to have the command or control of one's own passions. The word master has numerous applications, in all of which it has the sense of director, chief, or superintendent. As a title of respect given to adult persons, it is pronounced mister; a pronunciation which seems to have been derived from some of the Northern dialects. [supra.]

To be skillful; to excel. [Obs.] Spenser.

1. To conquer; to overpower; to subdue; to bring under control. Obstinacy and willful neglect must be mastered, even though it costs blows. Locke. Evil customs must he mastered by degrees. Calamy.
2. To execute with skill. I will not offer that which I can not master. Bacon.
3. To rule; to govern. And rather father thee than master thee. [Not used.] Shak.

1. A vessel having (so many) masts; -- used only in compounds; as, a two-master.
2. A male person having another living being so far subject to his will, that he can, in the main, control his or its actions; -- formerly used with much more extensive application than now.
   
   
   (a)
3. To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
   
   

   Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered, even though it cost blows. Locke.

4. To be skillful; to excel.
   
   
   [Obs.]
5. One who uses, or controls at will, anything inanimate; as, to be master of one's time.
   
   
   Shak.

   Master of a hundred thousand drachms. Addison.

   We are masters of the sea. Jowett (Thucyd. ).

6. To gain the command of, so as to understand or apply; to become an adept in; as, to master a science.
7. One who has attained great skill in the use or application of anything; as, a master of oratorical art.
   
   

   Great masters of ridicule. Macaulay.

   No care is taken to improve young men in their own language, that they may thoroughly understand and be masters of it. Locke.

8. To own; to posses.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   The wealth
   That the world masters. Shak.

9. A title given by courtesy, now commonly pronounced m***ibreve]ster, except when given to boys; -- sometimes written Mister, but usually abbreviated to Mr.
10. A young gentleman; a lad, or small boy.
    
    

    Where there are little masters and misses in a house, they are impediments to the diversions of the servants. Swift.

11. The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually called captain. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly, an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under the commander, of sailing the vessel.
12. A person holding an office of authority among the Freemasons, esp. the presiding officer; also, a person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
    
    

    Little masters, certain German engravers of the 16th century, so called from the extreme smallness of their prints. -- Master in chancery, an officer of courts of equity, who acts as an assistant to the chancellor or judge, by inquiring into various matters referred to him, and reporting thereon to the court. -- Master of arts, one who takes the second degree at a university; also, the degree or title itself, indicated by the abbreviation M. A., or A. M. -- Master of the horse, the third great officer in the British court, having the management of the royal stables, etc. In ceremonial cavalcades he rides next to the sovereign. -- Master of the rolls, in England, an officer who has charge of the rolls and patents that pass the great seal, and of the records of the chancery, and acts as assistant judge of the court. Bouvier. Wharton. -- Past master, one who has held the office of master in a lodge of Freemasons or in a society similarly organized. -- The old masters, distinguished painters who preceded modern painters; especially, the celebrated painters of the 16th and 17th centuries. -- To be master of one's self, to have entire self-control; not to be governed by passion. -- To be one's own master, to be at liberty to act as one chooses without dictation from anybody.

    * Master, signifying chief, principal, masterly, superior, thoroughly skilled, etc., is often used adjectively or in compounds; as, master builder or master-builder, master chord or master-chord, master mason or master-mason, master workman or master-workman, master mechanic, master mind, master spirit, master passion, etc.

    Throughout the city by the master gate. Chaucer.

    Master joint (Geol.), a quarryman's term for the more prominent and extended joints traversing a rock mass. -- Master key, a key adapted to open several locks differing somewhat from each other; figuratively, a rule or principle of general application in solving difficulties. -- Master lode (Mining), the principal vein of ore. -- Master mariner, an experienced and skilled seaman who is certified to be competent to command a merchant vessel. -- Master sinew (Far.), a large sinew that surrounds the hough of a horse, and divides it from the bone by a hollow place, where the windgalls are usually seated. -- Master singer. See Mastersinger. -- Master stroke, a capital performance; a masterly achievement; a consummate action; as, a master stroke of policy. -- Master tap (Mech.), a tap for forming the thread in a screw cutting die. -- Master touch. (a) The touch or skill of a master. Pope. (b) Some part of a performance which exhibits very skillful work or treatment. "Some master touches of this admirable piece." Tatler. -- Master work, the most important work accomplished by a skilled person, as in architecture, literature, etc.; also, a work which shows the skill of a master; a masterpiece. -- Master workman, a man specially skilled in any art, handicraft, or trade, or who is an overseer, foreman, or employer.