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Master vs Mistress - What's the difference?

master | mistress | Antonyms |

Mistress is a coordinate term of master.

Mistress is a related term of master.

Mistress is a antonym of master.

Mistress is a synonym of master.



As nouns the difference between master and mistress

is that master is someone who has control over something or someone while mistress is a woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership.

As an adjective master

is masterful.

As a verb master

is {{cx|intransitive|lang=en}} To be a master.

master

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) maister, mayster, meister, from (etyl) ). Reinforced by (etyl) maistre, mestre from the same Latin source.

Alternative forms

* (l) (dialectal), (l) (dialectal) * mastre (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Someone who has control over something or someone.
  • * Addison
  • master of a hundred thousand drachms
  • * Jowett (Thucyd.)
  • We are masters of the sea.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.
  • The owner of an animal or slave.
  • (nautical) The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.
  • Someone who employs others.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
  • An expert at something.
  • * Macaulay
  • great masters of ridicule
  • * John Locke
  • No care is taken to improve young men in their own language, that they may thoroughly understand and be masters of it.
  • A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.
  • (dated) A schoolmaster.
  • A skilled artist.
  • (dated) A man or a boy; mister. See Master.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Where there are little masters and misses in a house, they are impediments to the diversions of the servants.
  • A master's degree; a type of postgraduate degree, usually undertaken after a bachelor degree.
  • A person holding such a degree.
  • The original of a document or of a recording.
  • (film) The primary wide shot of a scene, into which the closeups will be edited later.
  • (legal) A parajudicial officer (such as a referee, an auditor, an examiner, or an assessor) specially appointed to help a court with its proceedings.
  • (engineering) A device that is controlling other devices or is an authoritative source (e.g. master database).
  • A person holding an office of authority among the Freemasons, especially the presiding officer; also, a person holding a similar office in other civic societies.
  • Synonyms
    * (sense, master's degree) masters, master's * (sense, master's degree) magistrate (Quebec English) * (film) establishing shot, long shot * (ship) skipper, captain * See also
    Derived terms
    (master) * ballet master * barmaster * beemaster * bergmaster * boroughmaster * brewmaster * burghomaster * burgomaster * bushmaster * chess master * cockmaster * concertmaster * craftsmaster * dockmaster * drill master/drillmaster * games master/games-master * Grand Master/grandmaster * harbor master/harbor-master/harbormaster * headmaster * house master/housemaster * ironmaster * * jumpmaster * loadmaster * lockmaster * master bedroom * master bricklayer * master builder * master card * master cast * master class * master copy * master cylinder * master file * master gland * master key * master mariner * master mason * Master of Arts * master of ceremonies * Master of Science * master plan/master-plan/masterplan * master race * master sergeant * master status * master tradesman * master trust * master-at-arms * masterdom * masterful * masterhood * masterless * masterly * mastermind * masterous * masterpiece * Masters * mastership * mastersinger * masterstroke * masterwork * mastery * metal master * mint-master * old master * past master * paymaster * postmaster * property master * puppet master/puppet-master/puppetmaster * quartermaster * question master/question-master/questionmaster * quizmaster * rattlesnake master * ringmaster * roaming master * saymaster * schoolmaster * scoutmaster * sheepmaster * shipmaster * spymaster * stationmaster * taskmaster * toastmaster * trackmaster * trainmaster * undermaster * watermaster * webmaster * weighmaster * whoremaster * workmaster * wreck master/wreck-master/wreckmaster * yardmaster
    See also
    * (l) * (l)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Masterful.
  • Main, principal or predominant.
  • Highly skilled.
  • Original.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.
  • * (and other bibliographic details) (John Locke)
  • Obstinacy and willful neglects must be mastered , even though it cost blows.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • Then Elzevir cried out angrily, 'Silence. Are you mad, or has the liquor mastered you? Are you Revenue-men that you dare shout and roister? or contrabandiers with the lugger in the offing, and your life in your hand. You make noise enough to wake folk in Moonfleet from their beds.'
  • To learn to a high degree of proficiency.
  • It took her years to master the art of needlecraft.
  • (obsolete) To own; to posses.
  • * (and other bibliographic details) (Shakespeare)
  • the wealth that the world masters
  • To make a master copy of.
  • To earn a Master's degree.
  • He mastered in English at the state college.
    Derived terms
    (Terms derived from the noun "master") * bemaster * masterable * overmaster * remaster

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical, in combination) A vessel having a specified number of masts.
  • a two-master

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    mistress

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership.
  • * , chapter=19
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress , and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.}}
  • A female teacher.
  • A female partner in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations.
  • A dominatrix.
  • * 2006 , Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope (page 376)
  • As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.
  • A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it.
  • * Addison
  • A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.
  • A woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart.
  • (Clarendon)
  • (Scotland) A married woman; a wife.
  • * Sir (Walter Scott)
  • Several of the neighbouring mistresses had assembled to witness the event of this memorable evening.
  • (obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls.
  • (Beaumont and Fletcher)
  • female companion to a master
  • Usage notes

    In the sexual sense, mistress is narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed'' extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It is broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery. Tiger Woods Does Not Have 11 “Mistresses”: His many paramours aren’t committed enough to merit that term. by Jesse Sheidlower, '', Dec. 10, 2009.

    Synonyms

    * (woman with control, authority or ownership''): boss (''applicable to either sex''), head (''applicable to either sex''), leader (''applicable to either sex ) * (female teacher ): schoolmarm * (woman who displaces a wife in the affections of a man''): bit on the side (''applicable to either sex ), fancy woman, , goomah * See also

    Antonyms

    Male equivalents: * (woman with control, authority or ownership ): master * (female teacher ): master * (female partner in an extramarital affair ): cicisbeo, fancy man * (dominatrix ): master

    Derived terms

    * headmistress * mistresshood * mistresslike * mistressship * mistressy * wardrobe mistress

    References

    See also

    * miss * Mrs