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Master vs Top - What's the difference?

master | top |

As a noun master

is (l) (original version of a document or of a recording).

As a symbol top is

tongan.

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

    * ----

    top

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia top) (en noun)
  • (rfc-sense)The highest part or component of an object.
  • :
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶.
  • #The part viewed, or intended to be viewed, nearest the edge of the visual field normally occupied by the uppermost visible objects.
  • #:
  • #A lid, cap or cover of a container.
  • #:
  • #A garment worn to cover the torso.
  • #:
  • #(lb) A framework at the top of a ship's mast to which rigging is attached.
  • #(lb) The first half of an inning, during which the home team fields and the visiting team bats.
  • #(lb) The crown of the head, or the hair upon it; the head.
  • #*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • #*:from top to toe
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • #*:All the stored vengeance of Heaven fall / On her ungrateful top !
  • A child’s spinning toy; a spinning top.
  • :
  • (lb) Someone who is eminent.
  • #(lb) The chief person; the most prominent one.
  • #*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • #*:to be the top of zealots
  • #The highest rank; the most honourable position; the utmost attainable place.
  • #:
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • #*:And wears upon his baby brow the round / And top of sovereignty.
  • #*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 29, author=Tom Rostance, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Stoke 2-1 Besiktas , passage=After drawing their first game in Kiev the Potters are now top of Europa League Group E ahead of back-to-back games with Maccabi Tel-Aviv.}}
  • (lb) A dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.
  • A man penetrating or with a preference for penetrating during homosexual intercourse.
  • :
  • (lb) A top quark.
  • The utmost degree; the acme; the summit.
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:The top of my ambition is to contribute to that work.
  • (lb) A plug, or conical block of wood, with longitudinal grooves on its surface, in which the strands of the rope slide in the process of twisting.
  • (lb) Highest pitch or loudest.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.}}
  • (lb) A bundle or ball of slivers of combed wool, from which the noils, or dust, have been taken out.
  • (lb) Eve; verge; point.
  • *(Richard Knolles) (1545-1610)
  • *:He was upon the top of his marriage with Magdaleine.
  • The part of a cut gem between the girdle, or circumference, and the table, or flat upper surface.
  • :(Knight)
  • Topboots.
  • :(Charles Dickens)
  • Synonyms

    * head (of a page) * (lid) cap, cover, lid * (LGBT) pitcher, active, seme (Japanese fiction)

    Antonyms

    * (part of an object furthest away in the opposite direction from that in which an unsupported object would fall) base, bottom, underside * foot (of a page) * (garment) bottoms * (BDSM) bottom * (gay sexual slang) bottom, passive, pathic

    Derived terms

    * big top * curly top * desktop * hilltop * housetop * laptop * mountaintop * on top * on top of * on top of the world * palmtop * rooftop * tabletop * tiptop * top and tail * top-down * top-hole * topless * top of mind * top of the hour * top of the morning * topping * treetop

    Verb

    (topp)
  • To cover on the top or with a top.
  • I like my ice cream topped with chocolate sauce.
  • To cut or remove the top (as of a tree)
  • I don't want to be bald, so just top my hair.
    Top and tail the carrots.
  • To excel, to surpass, to beat.
  • Titanic was the most successful film ever until it was topped by another Cameron film, Avatar.
  • * Shakespeare, King Lear
  • Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, / And my invention thrive, Edmund the base / Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosper
  • To be in the lead, to be at number one position (of).
  • Celine Dion topped the UK music charts twice in the 1990s.
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25442148]", BBC Sport , 26 December 2013:
  • Liverpool topped the table on Christmas Day and, after Arsenal's win at West Ham earlier on Boxing Day, would have returned to the top had they been the first team to beat City at home this season.
  • (British, slang) To commit suicide, (rare) to murder.
  • Depression causes many people to top themselves.
  • (BDSM) To be the dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.
  • I used to be a slave, but I ended up topping .
    Giving advice to the dominant partner on how to run the BDSM session is called "topping from the bottom".
  • (slang, gay sexuality) To be the partner who penetrates in anal sex.
  • (archaic) To rise aloft; to be eminent; to tower.
  • lofty ridges and topping mountains
    (Derham)
  • (archaic) To predominate.
  • topping passions
  • * John Locke
  • influenced by topping uneasiness
  • (archaic) To excel; to rise above others.
  • (Dryden)

    Synonyms

    * (excel) beat, better, best, do better than, exceed, excel, outdo, surpass, trump, worst * (kill) ** (standard) kill, murder, slaughter, slay ** do in, do away with, take out, wipe out

    Derived terms

    * (kill) top oneself * untopped

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (informal) Best; of the highest quality or rank.
  • (informal) Very good, of high quality.
  • Adverb

    (-)
  • Rated first.
  • She came top in her French exam.

    Synonyms

    * first

    See also

    * topple

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----