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Mask vs Cloak - What's the difference?

mask | cloak | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between mask and cloak

is that mask is a cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection while cloak is a long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.

As verbs the difference between mask and cloak

is that mask is to cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor while cloak is to cover as with a cloak.

mask

English

(wikipedia mask)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . . * Derived from the -r- form: (etyl) maschera, (etyl) and (etyl) , (etyl) masker, (etyl) masquerade. * Derived from the form lacking -r- : German Maske and Swedish mask.

Alternative forms

* (l)

Noun

(en noun)
  • 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
  • That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
  • A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade
    • (Francis Bacon)
  • * (rfdate) :
    • This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask .
  • (obsolete) A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
  • (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.
  • (fortification) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
  • (fortification) A screen for a battery
  • (zoology) The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
  • (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.)
  • (computing, programming) A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
  • (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) (l), (l)
    Derived terms
    * dust mask * death mask * gas mask, gasmask * mask house(qualifier) * screen mask * unmask

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.
  • * (rfdate) Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, IV,vi :
    • They must all be masked and vizarded
  • To disguise; to cover; to hide.
  • * (rfdate) Shakespeare, Macbeth, III-i :
    • Masking the business from the common eye
  • (military) To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of.
  • (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
  • To take part as a masker in a masquerade
    • (Cavendish)
  • To wear a mask; to be disguised in any way
    • (Shakespeare)
  • (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
  • (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 development
    • When should you mask a specific interrupt, rather than disabling all interrupts?

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) maske, from (etyl) max, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A mesh.
  • The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) . More at (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Mash.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To mash.
  • (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.
  • To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.

    • Etymology 4

    From (etyl) masken, short for . More at (l).

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bewilder; confuse.

    • References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    cloak

    English

    (wikipedia cloak)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=5 citation , passage=‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’}}
  • A blanket-like covering, often metaphorical.
  • (figurative)  That which conceals; a disguise or pretext.
  • * South
    • No man is esteemed any ways considerable for policy who wears religion otherwise than as a cloak .
  • (Internet)  A text replacement for an IRC user's hostname or IP address, making the user less identifiable.

    • Derived terms

    * cloak and dagger

    See also

    * burnoose, burnous, burnouse * domino costume

    Verb

  • To cover as with a cloak.
  • (science fiction, ambitransitive) To render or become invisible via futuristic technology.
    • The ship cloaked before entering the enemy sector of space.

    Derived terms

    * cloaking device