mace

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“
Releasing an arrow from the string of a longbow can drop an unsuspecting bandit from a good ways away, smashing in a kobold's face with a mace is a reward unto itself, and though the combat is characteristically repetitive, it doesn't really feel that way.

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Definitions (27)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A ceremonial staff borne or displayed as the symbol of authority of a legislative body.
  2. noun A macebearer.
  3. noun A heavy medieval war club with a spiked or flanged metal head, used to crush armor.
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Examples (50)

  • A quar-terstaff or a mace, at least; Joscelin snatched his hands back, stung by the reverberation of the wood. —  Carey, Jaqueline - Kushiel's Dart orig
  • The inventory of assets does not identify any of the individual works of art with their value, apart from the parliament's mace which is shown as the most valuable item at £37,982.
  • The iconic mace, which is carried into the chamber at the head of the Speaker's procession by the Serjeant at Arms, symbolises the authority of the House. —  ITN Headlines
  • Order last Thursday while everyone was fuming about the Government's decision to build the Third Heathrow Runway (including John McDonnell, but we won't link to his story as his mace-swinging antics didn't get enough digs). —  Liberal Democrat Voice
  • To flavor a new keg of ale, it is said, one added a red cock pounded to a pulp in a bag along with raisins, mace, and cloves; then, the bloody mess was allowed to steep for a week or more before bottling. —  VQR
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Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old French masse, from Vulgar Latin *mattea.
  2. Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin macis, alteration of Latin macir, fragrant ailanthus resin, from Greek makir.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English mace, mase, mas, from Old French mace, mache (also macque, maque, make), French masse = Provencal massa = Spanish maza = Portuguese maça = Italian mazza (Middle Latin reflex massa), a club, scepter, from Late Latin matia, L. *matea, found only in diminutive mateola, a mallet or beetle. Cf. mack.
  2. from Middle English mace, also maces (singular), from Old French (and P.) macis = Spanish mácis = Portuguese macis = Italian mace (Middle Latin macia), mace, prob. from Latin macir, from Greek μάκερ, an East Indian spice. Cf. Latin maccis, macis (Plautus), supposed to mean ‘mace.’
  3. Formerly also mess; from Malay mas.
  4. Origin obscure.
  5. See mace, n.
 

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/meɪs/
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