Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A dramatic entertainment, usually performed by masked players representing mythological or allegorical figures, that was popular in England in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
- n. A dramatic verse composition written for such an entertainment.
- n. See masquerade.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- See mask.
Wiktionary
- n. archaic (in 16th-17th Century England & Europe) A dramatic performance, often performed at court as a royal entertainment, consisting of dancing, dialogue, pantomime and song.
- n. archaic Words and music written for a masque.
- n. archaic A shortening of the word masquerade.
- n. Archaic form of mask.
- v. Archaic form of mask.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A mask; a masquerade.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a party of guests wearing costumes and masks
Etymologies
- Borrowing from French masque. (Wiktionary)
- French; see mask. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In form it is a masque, that is, a dramatic poem intended to be staged to the accompaniment of music; in execution it is the most perfect of all such poems inspired by the”
“It was I that called the masque at my house where first the King did see her.”
“The history of the masque is a stale matter, so I will merely mention that Campion, and many another with, before, and after him, engaged during a great part of their lives in what can only be called the manufacture of these entertainments.”
Old Scores and New Readings Discussions on Music & Certain Musicians
“England (unless _Comus_ be called a masque), and which are worth comparing with the ballets and spectacle pieces of Molière.”
“The masque is a combo of a fancy mud and "deeply nourishing" body cream.”
“Hmm, I don't think Prada Beauty makes a seaweed and cucumber "masque"...”
"We, in former times, constantly made jokes about different races."
“As a ballad and a subversive "masque," however, it is a scandal to literary form and decorum in its analysis of oppression and its attribution of Promethean virtue to the hungry, the homeless, and the despised.”
“The "masque" or pantomimic pageant, without dialogue, was also a familiar spectacle of the later times, and remained an occasional feature of the drama in its development.”
“Jack Straw" was a kind of masque, which was very much disliked by the aristocratic and elder part of the community, hence the amount of the fine imposed.”
“Among the boys who sang and acted in the "masque" were Beard, who afterwards became Handel's favourite tenor, and Randall, eventually”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘masque’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Masks
mascherone, eye mask, gas mask, welder's mask, ski mask, calypsis, balaclava, facemask, false face, fencer's mask, fencing mask, half mask and 89 more...
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Music of different spheres
klezmer, makossa, bagatelle, masque, coloratura, quadrille, schottische, boogie, fandango, acciaccatura, appoggiatura, schmaltz and 11 more...
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dandy's list
favourite words
cattywampus, wibble, fenagle, whisker, sneeze, wisteria, honeysuckle, clove, perihelion, glimmer, twilight, dusk and 264 more...
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I, Claudius
Words taken from I, Claudius by Robert Graves.
evocation, aureus, sestertii, denarii, assegai, pilum, framea, sibyl, propitiatory, duenna, tyrannicide, maggoty and 136 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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librarygoblin's words
crystal, ghost, mist, snow, labyrinth, citadel, tomb, mystery, arcane, conundrum, echo, dynamo and 389 more...
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Beautiful Music
a cappella, accelerando, accompagnato, adagio, ad libitum, agitato, aleatory, alla breve, allegro, allemande, alto, andante and 548 more...
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Setting the Scene: Dark and Dreary
Words that lend to the dark and dreary atmosphere of gothic literature.
dark, dreary, shroud, shrouded, veiled, skeleton, skeletal, dead, death, murky, gloomy, lugubrious and 274 more...
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Master
comprehensive
picaresque, carnivalesque, -esque, grotesque, Cocteau, necropolis, hypnopædic, mojito, imprimatur, insouciance, idyll, maestro and 239 more...
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Permutations
There are 17576 different sequences of three letters (26 x 26 x 26). How many of them occur in words? General rules of engagement: mononyms only, lower case preferred to upper case, short preferred...
aaargh, niqaabi, Isaac, raad, baaed, haaf, laager, aah, kamaaina, Naajaat, aak, aalii and 637 more...
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Belletristic amusements...
thurl, dulcet, felicity, halcyon, arabesque, alacrity, masque, resplendent, coquettish, salacious, libertine, chaste and 25 more...
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I like : M
mage, magisterium, magnificat, magus, mandalay, mandible, manifesto, mars, matryoshka, maying, maypole, megafauna and 34 more...
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Ends With "Que"
plaque, appliqué, bisque, communiqué, grotesque, marque, monocoque, odalisque, baroque, brusque, dantesque, critique and 46 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for masque.
hernesheir When Britain first, at heavens's command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sung this strain:
"Rule, Britannia, rule the waves;
Britons never will be slaves."
from Alfred: A Masque by James Thomson (1700-1748) Sep 25, 2009
chained_bear Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Masque of the Red Death" was one of my favorites in school. Sep 18, 2009
hernesheir A spectacular indoor performance combining poetic drama, music, dance, song, lavish costume and costly stage effects favored by European royalty in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Disguised members of the court played the roles of mythological characters and enacted simple allegorical plots. At the end of the performance, the cast would remove their masks and dance with members of the audience.
See anti-masque. Sep 18, 2009