masker meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

masker

verb

/ˈmæskə(ɹ)/ · /ˈmɑːskə(ɹ)/

Etymology From Middle English *maskeren, malskren (“to bewilder”) (compare Middle English bimalscren (“to bewitch”)), from Old English *malscrian (attested in derivative malscrung (“enchantment, charm”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *malskaz (“haughty”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“to beat, crush, grind”). Cognate with Middle Dutch malsch (“headstrong, zealous”). More at mask.

Dialectal To render giddy or senseless

To masker their troubled heads the more, hee assaileth them with a great shout and maine violence.1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:
He is so, for he is not one that sets forth to the wars with great resolutions and hopes, and returns with maskered fears, and despairs; neither is he like those that take more care, and are more industrious to get gay clothes, and fine feathers, [...]2000, Paul Salzman, Early Modern Women's Writing:

Dialectal To be bewildered.

Dialectal To choke; stifle.

Dialectal To decay; rust.

Synonyms: confuse, bewilder, stupefy

masker

noun

Etymology From mask + -er.

One who wears a mask; one who appears in disguise at a masquerade or wears a mask in a ritual.

But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning away […].1842, Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death:
Like the men's society, the corporate consciousness of women and their respected place in the political body is represented by a masked spirit. This sowei (masker), like all the officials of the society, represents the corporate body of women and retains the authority to levy fines and punish women and men or the community as a whole. The ndoli Jowei (dancing sowei) is a masker whose figure is completely covered with black raffia, topped by the sowei mask.2012, L. Day, Gender and Power in Sierra Leone: Women Chiefs of the Last Two Centuries, →ISBN:

That which masks (noise in a signal, etc.).

Derived terms: antimasker, pro-masker