The Oxford English Dictionary

Mask (Noun):

I. A covering for the face, and related senses.

1. a. A covering worn on or held in front of the face for disguise, esp. one made of velvet, silk, etc., and concealing the whole face or the upper part of it (except the eyes), worn at balls and masques.
in mask: masked (obs.).

1534 LD. BERNERS tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1535) 102b, The vices that they brought [from Asia] to Rome..The patritiens bearyng Measques, the Plebeyens usynge smelles, and the emperours to weare purple. 1581 G. PETTIE tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) I. 28 There are certaine glorious fellowes, who at shrouetide goe with Maskes on their face, and yet woulde faine be knowne what they are. 1582 G. WHETSTONE Heptameron Ciuill Disc. sig. Giij^v, Bargetto, lighted by a Page..followed Ismarito, hauing the mouth of his Mask closed with a small Golden Lock. 1617 F. MORYSON Itinerary III. 177 Gentlemen and Citizens wiues when they goe out of dores, weare vpon their faces little Maskes of silk, lined with fine leather. 1667 S. PEPYS Diary 18 Feb. (1974) VIII. 71 One of the ladies would, and did, sit with her mask on. 1691 London Gaz. No. 2651/3 To march out with their Arms and Baggage, Colours Flying,..30 Covered Wagons, and 50 Persons in Masks, &c. 1722 D. DEFOE Moll Flanders 397, I had no Mask, but I ruffled my Hoods so about my Face, that [etc.]. 1790 C. POWYS Diary 28 Sept. (1899) 250 Numbers of fancy dresses and many good masques. 1821 BYRON Jrnl. 19 Feb. in Lett. & Jrnls. (1978) VIII. 47 Solitary stragglers muffled in cloaks

women in mask. 1833 H. MARTINEAU Three Ages I. 1 A troop of gentlemen..whose country could not be divined from their complexions, since each wore a mask. 1884 ‘M. TWAIN’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn ii. 14 We are highwaymen. We stop stages and carriages on the road, with masks on, and kill people and take their watches and money. 1933 P. G. WODEHOUSE Heavy Weather iii. 34 At any moment..the bounder was liable to come sneaking in, mask on face and poison-needle in hand, intent on nobbling the favourite. 1988 H. C. R. LANDON Mozart's Last Year iv. 42 The Austrians were tremendous flirts and the masks encouraged daring conversations.

b. Theatre. An image of a face worn by an actor; (Classical Theatre) a hollow figure of a human head intended both to identify the character represented and to amplify the voice.

1600 SHAKESPEARE Mids. N.D. I. ii. 45 Fl. Nay faith: let me not play a woman: I haue a beard coming. Quin. That's all one: you shall play it in a Maske. 1616 B. JONSON Poetaster IV. i, in Wks. I. 312 Giue me my muffe, and my dogge there..giue me my fanne, and my masque too. 1705 J. ADDISON Remarks on Italy 103 [Venice] Could we suppose that a Mask represented never so naturally the general Humour of a Character, it can never suit with the Variety of Passions that are incident to every single Person in the whole Course of a Play. 1732 T. LEDIARD tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos II. x. 435 The actor whose mask represented Cheres..went off from the stage. a1862 H. T. BUCKLE Misc. Wks. I. 487 The Romans sometimes played without masks: the Greeks never. 1932 A. C. MCGIFFERT Hist. Christian Thought I. xii. 238 The word [sc.

] means not person but face, and was used for the mask worn by actors in the theatre or for the part they played. 1972 Conc. Oxf. Compan. Theatre 340/1 The comic actors of the ..commedia dell' arte always wore masks... Otherwise masks, which continued to be an essential factor in the Japanese n play and other Far Eastern theatres, were discarded in Europe. 1986 Omnibus Nov. 7/1 The chorus of an Aristophanic comedy..and the use of masks seem to be aspects of the first kind of Greek theatrical productions grafted afresh onto Aristophanes' plays.

c. A representation (usually carved or sculpted) of a human face or animal head, originally made for religious or ceremonial purposes but later often produced simply as a decorative artefact.

1790 Coll. Voy. V. x. 1764 These [sc. North American Indian masks] consist of a great variety of wooden masks, applied to the face, forehead, or upper part of the head. Some of these visors resemble human faces..others..the heads of birds, and various animals. 1816 Gentleman's Mag. 86 4 An antique vase, with Bacchanalian masks. 1864 C. DE W. BROWNELL Indian Races N. & S. Amer. 509 Every man of the tribe possessed a mask made from the skin of a buffalo's head, including the horns, and dried as nearly as possible in the natural shape, to be worn on these occasions [sc. ‘buffalo dances’]. 1901 R. KIPLING Kim ix. 212 He had seen devil-dance masks at the Lahore Museum. 1957 Antiquity & Survival 2 167/1 Near it a cult mask, made of clay, was still lying on the floor. 1990 F. STARN Soup of Day IV. xxxii. 126 On the wall to her left was a delicately carved Yoruba mask.

d. A grotesque or comical representation of a face, made of pasteboard, plastic, or other material, and worn at carnivals, parties, etc.

1837 D. JERROLD in New Monthly Mag. 51 317 The mask fixed upon the effigy [of Guy Fawkes]. 1901 Ann. Brit. School at Athens 6 126 The young man [in the carnival] contents himself with..a roughly-made domino, or, thanks to the steadily increasing influx of Western culture..an ‘Ally Sloper’ mask. 1943 B. SMITH Tree grows in Brooklyn xxvi. 174 It was the day children went around ‘ragamuffin’ or ‘slamming gates’, wearing costumes topped off by a penny mask. 1981 B. BYARS Cybil War 5 He had never been one for costumes

even at Hallowe'en he limited himself to a mask.

2. fig. and in fig. context. a. A pretence, a front, an outward show intended to deceive; freq. in to put on (also throw off, drop, etc.) the mask.
under the mask of: with the appearance or apparent motive of (but not actually).

1577 F. de L'isle's Legendarie Fivb, That their nephue Francis serued but as a maske and cloke to their fellonie. 1678 A. BEHN Sir Patient Fancy V. i. 74 Keep still that mask of Love we first put on..for I have no joy beyond cheating that filthy Uncle of thine. 1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. III. 148 No man had ever a greater power over himself, or was less the man that he seem'd to be, which shortly after appear'd to every body, when he cared less to keep on the Masque. 1748 S. RICHARDSON Clarissa IV. xlvii. 275 If I write not in time, but that thou hast actually pulled off the mask; let [etc.]. 1766 O. GOLDSMITH Vicar of Wakefield II. xi. 165 A base ungenerous wretch, who, under the mask of friendship, has undone me. 1812 G. CRABBE Tales xvi. 286 She veil'd her troubles in a mask of ease. 1832 T. DE QUINCEY Cæsars in Blackwood's Mag. Oct. 604 He himself, by way of masque,..attended a public spectacle. 1849 MACAULAY Hist. Eng. I. 400 He had covered his failings with the mask of devotion. 1876 E. A. FREEMAN Hist. Norman Conquest IV. xvii. 37 The way in which..wrong contrived to assume the mask of right. 1922 P. G. WODEHOUSE Clicking of Cuthbert ix. 203 It was only..when I learned that in the privacy of her home she would weep bitterly..that I realized that she did but wear the mask. 1940 J. BUCHAN Memory Hold-the-Door xii. 284 Under the mask of a riotous life there would be death at the heart. 1992 M. MEDVED Hollywood vs. Amer. II. iv. 57 Another holy hypocrite hides his private prurience behind a mask of public piety.

b. A covering of something (material or immaterial), hiding something else from view.

1597 SHAKESPEARE Rom. & Jul. II. i. 127 The maske of night is on my face, Els would a Maiden blush bepaint my cheeks. 1655 R. FANSHAWE tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad II. lxvi. 36 The self-same time they did their Anchors weigh, (Hid in the mask of night). 1752 W. MASON Elfrida 25 To..be led Veil'd in the mask of night, to Edgar's chamber, A counterfeit Matilda. 1820 KEATS Sonnet, Lover's Complaint in Poet. Wks. (1906) 486 The new soft-fallen mask Of snow upon the mountains. 1886 R. WILLIS & J. W. CLARK Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. III. 540 The series of melancholy attempts..to convert the medieval style of our colleges into Italian by a mere mask of ashlar. 1918 W. CATHER My Ántonia II. vi. 198 All those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies.

c. A facial expression assumed deliberately to conceal an emotion or give a false impression; an outward appearance which belies a person's true nature.

1605 Disc. Treason in His Maiesties Speach sig. H1^v, The maske of his Romaine fortitude did visibly begin to weare & slide off his face. 1749 J. CLELAND Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 12 The mask of mock-modesty was compleatly taken off. 1781 W. COWPER Convers. 297 A shallow brain behind a serious mask. 1844 R. W. EMERSON Ess. 2nd Ser. iii. 103 Suppose a slaver on the coast of Guinea should take on board a gang of negroes, which should contain persons of the stamp of Toussaint L'Ouverture: or, let us fancy, under these swarthy masks he has a gang of Washingtons in chains. 1897 B. STOKER Dracula ix. 113 As soon as the door was closed, however, the mask fell from her face., and she sank down into a chair with a great sigh. 1905 BARONESS ORCZY Scarlet Pimpernel xv. 144 She had detained him for a while..trying to get at the thoughts which lay beyond that thin, fox-like mask. 1993 V. E. MITCHELL Windows on Lost World ii. 16 Kaul's expression settled into a mask that matched Spock's for blandness.

d. A human face regarded as resembling a mask, esp. by being fixed in a particular expression.

1795 W. HAYLEY National Advocates 18 To them Religion's sweet seraphic face Appears the sickly mask of sour grimace. 1887 O. WILDE Ld. Arthur Savile's Crime i, in Court & Soc. Rev. 11 May 449/1 For a moment his face became a white mask of horror. 1897 J. CONRAD Nigger of ‘Narcissus’ v. 104 He lifted his head and turned bravely at Donkin, who saw a strange face, an unknown face, a fantastic and grimacing mask of despair and fury. 1935 T. WOLFE Of Time & River (1971) IV. liv. 492 She had..a strong convulsive mouth, a mask which was like a destiny since it seemed to have been carved and fashioned for the dirge-like wailing of eternal grief. 1983 M. GERVAISE Distance Enchanted (BNC) 14 His face had wasted away till it was a mere mask of yellow wrinkled skin.

3. a. A protective covering for the face; (now) esp. a rigid covering worn to protect the face from physical injury in certain sports and other activities.

1601 P. HOLLAND tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 367 He..hath a thicke coife or maske [L. persona densusque reticulus] about his head, for doubt that hee should bestow any [frankincense] in mouth or eares. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Two Gent. (1623) IV. iv. 150 Since she did neglect her looking-glasse, And threw her Sun-expelling Masque away. 1688 R. HOLME Acad. Armory III. 13/1 A Mask... This is a thing..Gentlewomen used to put over their Faces..to keep them from Sun burning. 1739 T. GRAY Let. 25 Oct. in Corr. (1971) I. 125 We are..as well armed as possible against the cold, with muffs, hoods, and masks of bever. 1823 G. ROLAND Treat. Art Fencing 25 (note) Each fencer wears a closely wrought wire mask for the security of his face. 1844 R. BROWNING Laboratory i, Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly, May gaze thro' these faint smokes curling whitely. 1875 E. H. KNIGHT Pract. Dict. Mech., Mask,..a wire cage to protect the face from a stray cut or thrust with a foil in fencing... A face protection to be worn in glass-works or foundries, to protect against radiant heat. 1901 ‘H. MCHUGH’ John Henry 68 Baseball masks. 1975 R. PILCHER Day of Storm viii. 103 He wore a welding mask. 1989 D. OKRENT & S. WULF Baseball Anecd. i. 12 The first catcher to wear a mask and a balloon glove.

b. Surg. Any of various types of dressing for the face. rare.

1889 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon, Mask, A piece of linen, with holes for the eyes and mouth, used for applications to the face. 1989 Ann. Plastic Surg. 23 166 The results using this technique parallel those with a tape mask.

c. Med. A device placed over the nose and mouth, through which oxgen or gaseous anaesthetic is inhaled; (occas.) a facial covering of gauze impregnated with a drug for inhalation. Also (in extended use): a similar device for supplying oxygen on an aircraft, etc.
face, oxygen mask, etc.: see the first element.

1897 R. W. GARRETT Text Bk. Med. & Surg. Gynaecol. 66 Chloroform may be administered by means of a towel placed over the patient's face, but it is best given on an Esmarch's mask, which..fits loosely over the nose and mouth, thus admitting air freely, while the chloroform is dropped on it a few drops at a time. 1936 Discovery July 206/2 A liquid compound of ether..given..from a face mask through a drop bottle. 1959 Woman 16 May 23/2 An officious nurse plonked down a gas and air mask on my face. 1970 A. K. ARMAH Fragments (1974) 42 An oxygen supply is provided for each passenger. Masks are located in the back of the seat in front of you. 1992 Independent 29 Sept. 13/8 Mum out of danger, removed to ward. No mask. Still drip and catheter.

d. A covering for the mouth and nose made of fibre or gauze, designed to filter dust, microorganisms, etc., from air inhaled or exhaled, esp. by theatre staff during surgical operations.

1900 H. L. WAGNER in Trans. Med. Soc. California 30 473 It is absolutely necessary for important operations..to use a mask, which will filter the expired air. 1933 A. W. BOURNE et al. Queen Charlotte's Text-bk. Obstetr. (ed. 3) xiv. 266 No person is allowed in the hospital labour ward without a mask, which covers both the mouth and nose. 1999 Hongkong Standard (Electronic ed.) 21 Jan., Those masks could only block coarse particles, but fine ones would still be breathed in.

e. = gas mask s.v. GAS n.¹ 7.

1915 H. W. WILSON Great War IV. 331 A Highlander wearing a mask. 1918 H. W. WILSON Great War XI. 454 French soldiers wearing the masks, fitted with goggles and respirators, that rendered them immune to noxious gases. 1929 R. GRAVES Good-bye to all That xv. 204 Vermorel-sprayers had cleared out most of the gas, but we still had to wear our masks. 1984 J. BEDFORD Titron Madness (BNC) 78 They all knew that some gases were skin absorbable... There could be no telling if his mask would be effective until it was too late.

f. A watertight shield with a transparent front, worn over the eyes during underwater swimming and diving.

1945 Newsweek 17 Sept. 113 (advt.) He'd organized a spear-fishing party, and this is the proper regalia

glass-front mask, flipper shoes, and a..spear. 1977 G. DURRELL Golden Bats & Pink Pigeons v. 110 We had only masks and no snorkels, and my mask let in water. 1994 Alert Diver Mar. 37/1 (advt.) The Standard Oxygen Unit contains a multifunction regulator, demand inhalator valve with clear Tru-Fit mask, pocket mask, non-rebreather mask with 6-foot oxygen tubing.

4. a. A woman's face as disguised by cosmetics; a (heavy) facial covering of make-up.
In quot. 1778 also with allusion to sense 2a.

1778 W. KENRICK Lady of Manor I. 9 Fine ladies with painted faces in town, One mask with another may hide. a1811 R. T. PAINE Self-complacency in Wks. (1812) II. 123 Mine be the nymph, whom native charms adorn; Who looks on Fashion's painted mask with scorn. a1911 D. G. PHILLIPS Susan Lenox (1917) II. viii. 210 She fixed her gaze upon the eyes looking through the hideous mask of paint and powder partially concealing the madam's face. 1962 K. A. PORTER Ship of Fools 219 She painted and powdered her face half a dozen times a day, putting on her mask as carefully as an actress preparing to face her audience. 1993 I. WELSH Trainspotting 64 A coldly smiling dyke in a woman's business suit wi a thick foundation mask.

b. A cosmetic preparation spread on the face; a face pack.

1928 Daily Express 16 June 3/4, I suggested that I should like a mud-mask. The assistant appeared to be alarmed. 1931 H. G. WELLS Work, Wealth & Happiness I. v. 221 She has her face put under a ‘mask’, an affair of beaten-up eggs and other ingredients which tightens on the face. 1955 C. HART Handbk. Beauty 29 Cover your hair.., because the mask stuff is sticky. 1993 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Mar. 105/2 Beauty editor..assumes boy has been playing with samples of new placenta-based masque.

5. A likeness of a person's face in clay, wax, etc., esp. one made by taking a mould from the face itself. Cf. death-mask s.v. DEATH n. 19.

1780 C. ROGERS Let. 6 Apr. in Archaeologia (1782) 6 109 Some of these greatly resemble those published by Ficoroni,..many of which masques are also in terracotta. 1846 Penny Cycl. Suppl. II. 705/2 They [sc. the wax imagines of the Romans] were probably cast from moulds taken from models, though such masks [taken after death] may have been used in the formation of the models. 1877 C. BELL tr. G. Ebers Uarda I. 311 (note) Such a mask of the dead is not unfrequently found at the head of mummy cases. 1934 Biometrika 26 1 (title) The Wilkinson head of Oliver Cromwell and its relationship to busts, masks and painted portraits.

II. Specialized uses.

6. a. A stylized representation of a face, or a face and neck, usually in stone; (Archit.) a grotesque representation of a face used in panels, keystones of arches, etc. Also: a kind of corbel which casts a shadow resembling a man's profile, a buckle (see BUCKLE n. 4).

1731 N. BAILEY Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II. (ed. 2), Masque (with Architects), certain pieces of sculpture, representing some hideous form; grotesque or satyrs faces, used to fill up or adorn some vacant places. 1777 W. HAMILTON Acct. Discov. Pompeii 14 Colossal masks of terra cotta in the situation in which they were found. 1784 H. WALPOLE Let. 7 Sept. (1858) VIII. 502 Mrs. Damer herself is modelling two masks for the key-stones of the new bridge at Henley. 1848 T. RICKMAN Styles Archit. (ed. 5) Introd. xxx, A good bold corbel-table..carried on masks, a name given to a peculiar corbel because the shadow of it is the same as that from a head. 1869 C. BOUTELL tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour ii. 19 The shield..in either case was adorned by having the head of an animal nailed in the centre..or a mask executed with the hammer (repoussé) in bronze, was fixed in a similar position. 1870 F. R. WILSON Churches of Lindisfarne 111 The labels terminate in grotesque masks. 1942 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 7 88 (caption) The stone door is beautifully carved with a monster mask in high relief. 1984 N. A. COOKSON Romano-Brit. Mosaics (BNC) 26 Masks of Neptune occupy the interspaces between the central and other roundels.

b. Hunting. The face, head, or head-skin of a fox or other game animal, esp. taken as a trophy. Also (in extended use): the head or muzzle of a living animal.
to set his mask for: (of a fox) to head or make for (rare).

1828 Sporting Mag. 22. 244 The masks of a bitch fox and five of her cubs were nailed against the door of his keeper's kennel. 1853 ‘C. BEDE’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green vii. 56 Over the mirror was displayed a fox's mask. 1891 County Gentleman 29 1684 A second fox..set his mask for Vowes's Gorse. 1894 C. PHILLIPPS-WOLLEY et al. Big Game Shooting II. xv. 417 Peel off the whole mask from the antlers downwards to the muzzle. 1928 C. S. STOCKLEY Big Game Shooting 88 Skins..should..be..hung on a frame to dry, the mask being filled with dry grass or paper. 1945 C. L. B. HUBBARD Observer's Bk. Dogs 214 A light Cairn may have a dark mask. 1957 P. WHITE Voss viii. 206 Cattle lumbered to a standstill, holding their masks close to the ground. 1972 Daily Tel. 8 Apr. 17/4 Six more dog pelts, all complete with masks

the head of the dog

have been found..at Nuneaton. 1991 Dogs Monthly Feb. 28/3 She was a rich red with a dark mask and tiny ears..and she was a well constructed Dane.

7. a. Entomol. The labium of a dragonfly larva, which is greatly elongated and hinged, concealing the other mouthparts, and can be rapidly extended to capture prey.

1797 Encycl. Brit. X. 20/1 [article Libella] This mask, fastened to the insect's neck,..serves to hold its prey while it devours it. 1896 J. W. KIRKALDY & E. C. POLLARD tr. J. E. V. Boas Text Bk. Zool. 255 The larvæ [of dragon-flies]..are characterised by the modification of the labium into a long eversible prehensile organ (the mask). 1938 A. D. IMMS Gen. Textbk. Entomol. (ed. 4) 334 In the nymph this organ is modified for prehensile purposes and is known as the mask from the fact that it conceals the other mouth-parts. 1965 J. D. CARTHY Behaviour of Arthropods iii. 39 A dragonfly larva catches its prey by shooting out its specialized labium, the mask, which bears two jaws.

b. Zool. A feature or marking on an animal's face, resembling or likened to a mask.

1840 E. BLYTH et al. tr. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 174 The mask, formed by the fringed feathers that surround the eyes, is greatly extended [in the barn owl]. 1961 ‘J. B. AISTROP’ Pet Lover's Dict. 31 The male [golden-breasted waxbill] is remarkable for the brilliant golden yellow of its breast..and the red mask, which surrounds its eyes. 1991 R. M. NOWAK Walker's Mammals of World II. 1100/2 There are..black rings on the rather well-furred tail and a black ‘bandit’ mask across the face [of the racoon].

c. [Cf. French masque, 1867 in this sense] Med. mask of pregnancy, a blotchy, brownish discolouration which may appear on the forehead, cheeks, and neck of a woman during pregnancy; chloasma.

[1913 R. W. JOHNSTONE Text-bk. Midwifery viii. 82 Irregular patches are sometimes seen on the face and neck, the so-called chloasma uterinum (uterine mask).] 1940 R. C. BROWN & B. GILBERT Midwifery xxiii. 208 Patches of pigmentation are occasionally seen on the face and form..a definite condition..spoken of as the chloasma, or the mask of pregnancy. 1997 D. JOHNSON Le Divorce 221, I noticed that her cheeks had lately developed a pattern of redness, I think called the mask of pregnancy, which flared now, giving her a piratical, desperado look.

8. a. Fortification. A screen to protect people engaged in construction, or to conceal a battery, etc. Also: a casemated redoubt serving as a counterguard to the caponier. Obs.

1802 C. JAMES New Mil. Dict. s.v., Several masks must be hastily thrown up, whilst the men are employed behind one. 1846 P. N. BARBOUR Jrnl. 29 Mar. (1936) 21 Duncan's Battery, under mask, has been put in position so as to batter Mejia's quarters and the walls of the fort near them. 1876 G. E. VOYLE Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v., Mask, ..a casemated redoubt, one or two stories high and 12 yards wide at the capital, which is sometimes added in front of the caponier. 1884 Mil. Engin. I. 86 A floating mask, may be necessary for the protection of the men forming the head of the bridge. The mask should be of planks covered with iron or steel plate if possible. 1884 Mil. Engin. I. 86 As the work proceeds, a parapet must be erected on the causeway under cover of the mask to protect the men from the flank-fire of the enemy.

b. Photogr. and Printing. An opaque screen, often with a shaped aperture, used to cover parts of an image that are to be excluded or shaded.

1876 W. DE W. ABNEY Treat. Photogr. (ed. 3) 118 [Sunning down a bright spot on a print] may be secured by making a brown paper mask, cutting out the shape of the object to be toned down. 1889 T. C. HEPWORTH Bk. Lantern (ed. 2) 141 Now take a slide, duly fitted with its black mask, and a cover glass. 1909 Westmorland Gaz. 27 Feb. 14/2 After the print has been exposed in the ordinary way behind the opening of the opaque mask it is transferred to a frame containing the graduated mask. 1948 A. L. M. SOWERBY Dict. Photogr. (ed. 17) 444 In the opaque paper shaped openings are cut; and the piece cut out is termed the disc, the margin being called the mask. 1984 J. PARTRIDGE One Touch Photogr. 25 When the picture is printed the negative is held by a mask slightly smaller than the negative.

c. A covering used to protect or shield the object or surface over which it is placed, esp. from paint.

1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. s.v., Mask.., a covering over something to prevent soiling or other damage. 1967 J. N. BARRON Lang. of Painting 118 Gummed paper tape applied to the canvas as a mask or stencil in order to obtain clean sharp edges. 1992 Step-by-Step 8 93/2 She did not want any paint on the inside of the block. To prevent this, she created ‘bubble’ masks out of tape.

d. Photogr. A second version of a negative or a positive image, coloured to compensate for uneven colour development in the original and superimposed during printing to give a print on which the colours are correct. Also (more fully integral mask): such an image incorporated into a colour negative.

1948 D. A. SPENCER Colour Photogr. in Pract. (ed. 3) xvii. 326 The use of appropriate masks applied to the colour negative before..printing. 1961 A. L. M. SOWERBY Dict. Photogr. (ed. 19) 135 A..yellow mask is used in the magenta layer to compensate for the unwanted absorption of blue by the magenta dye. 1985 M. FREEMAN Encycl. Pract. Photogr. 100/3 The characteristic hue of a colour negative comes from..an integral mask.

e. Electronics. In the manufacture of integrated circuits: a thin surface layer or coating that is removed in parts to permit selective modification of the underlying material. Also: a stencil used to define the pattern etched or deposited on a microchip.

1956 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 35 25 For the emitter, a film of aluminium approximately 1,000 Å thick was evaporated onto the surface through a mask which defined an emitter arc of 1 x 2 mils. 1957 Jrnl. Electrochem. Soc. 104 549/1 A SiO₂ surface layer provides a selective mask at high temperatures against the diffusion of some donors and acceptors into Si. 1973 Sci. Amer. Apr. 65/2 Masks can be made from various types of material, for example insulators such as silicon dioxide... To expose the regions in which ion implantation is desired the mask is removed by chemical etching. 1993 Sun Expert Jan. 9/2 Your CAD drawings will be clear and distinct. Your chip masks, easily legible.

f. Computing. A binary pattern used to select or modify particular bits in a byte, word, or field of data.

1963 L. SCHULTZ Digital Processing xiv. 289 With the mask in the accumulator, the program specifies EXTRACT N + 3. 1972 Y. CHU Computer Organization & Microprogramming ix. 435 The third type is maskable by the PSW system mask. 1993 Byte Feb. 227/3 Masks and mattes control which pixels in the source image are drawn to the destination.

9. a. Psychol. = PERSONA n. 4b.

1902 Philos. Rev. 11 571 What is so presented to us is the persona or mask by which he [sc. any individual] chooses to appear before the world, and by which the world sees and recognizes him. 1923 H. G. BAYNES tr. C. G. Jung Psychol. Types xi. 590 He puts on a mask, which he knows corresponds with his conscious intentions, while it also meets with the requirements and opinions of his environment... This mask..I have called the persona. 1988 J. BRADSHAW Healing Shame that binds You I. iii. 82 All major schools of therapy speak about this false self. The Jungians call it the persona (the mask).

b. Literary Theory. The narrative voice of a text regarded as a persona, distinct from the true voice of the writer. Cf. PERSONA n. 4a.

[1945 T. SPENCER in ELH 12 266 It is the fact that lies behind the search of W. B. Yeats for the anti-mask

the discovery of the self by contemplation of its opposite.] 1948 R. ELLMANN (title) Yeats: the man and the masks. 1949 R. WELLEK & E. A. WARREN Theory of Lit. vii. 72 A work of art..may be the ‘mask’, the ‘ anti-self’ behind which his real person is hiding. 1961 W. C. BOOTH Rhetoric of Fiction vi. 162 ‘That is no country for old men

’ Who says? Yeats, or his ‘mask’, says. 1992 C. PAGLIA Sex, Art & Amer. Culture 103 For the New Critics, a writer never speaks for himself but only through an assumed persona, a mask.

III. Compounds.

10. mask-maker. mask-crab Obs. rare = masked crab s.v. MASKED a.² 4b. mask flower [app. after the name in Quechua: N.E.D. (1905) says ‘after the Peruvian name ricaco or ricarco’; in Quechua likaku or rikarku would mean ‘one which sees itself’], any of several Peruvian plants of the genus Alonsoa (family Scrophulariaceae), grown as ornamentals, originally A. linearis, having scarlet flowers with a black spot at the base, now chiefly A. warscewiczii, whose flowers lack such a spot. mask jug, a jug with a lip or front shaped like a face. mask-programmable a. Electronics, able to be manufactured by mask programming. mask-programmed a. Electronics, manufactured by mask programming. mask programming Electronics, the process of making a read-only semiconductor device by applying thin metallized layers using a mask (sense 8e) to generate the interconnection pattern (and hence the program) required. mask-shell Obs., a shell of a marine gastropod of the genus Distorsio (family Cymatiidae), which has a distinctive twisted aperture. mask-wall Fortification rare, a steep wall immediately in front of and below a casemated redoubt.

1863 J. G. WOOD Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 596 The *Mask-crab buries itself in the sand or muddy bed of the sea.

1857 E. BALFOUR Cycl. India, *Mask flower, Alonsoa. 1989 Gardeners' Encycl. Plants & Flowers (Royal Hort. Soc.) 273/1 Alonsoa warscewiczii (Mask flower). Perennial, grown as an annual... Spurred, bright scarlet flowers are produced during summer-autumn.

1963 Times 1 May 15/5 A Worcester yellow-ground *mask jug fell to Tilley at £700. 1970 Canad. Antiques Collector Jan. 30/1 Mask jugs, in which a face, or even a figure, formed the shape of the front of the jug, opposite the handle, had been made for centuries in most European countries.

1837 B. D. WALSH tr. Aristophanes Knights I. ii. 154 The *maskmakers [Gk.

(genitive pl.)] were so afraid of him, They would not copy them. 1990 Independent 13 July 7 (caption) Maskmakers want their skill to be ranked alongside painting and sculpting.

1971 IEEE Jrnl. Solid-state Circuits 6 301/1 These limitations of *mask programmable ROMs have led to a growing interest in electrically programmable semiconductor ROMs. 1998 Electronic Engin. Times 11 May 102/3 A company can start production using field-programmable devices and then move to mask-programmable versions to reduce the overall cost.

1972 IEEE Jrnl. Solid-state Circuits 7 375/2 The *mask-programmed ROM is programmed permanently at the integrated-circuit fabrication stage. 1999 Electronic Buyers' News 21 June 54/4 Complex code make mask-programmed ROM a less favorable choice for all but the very highest-volume and most cost-sensitive applications.

1971 R. B. MANN in J. Eimbinder Semiconductor Memories xiii. 131 The *mask programming determines whether the gate is connected. 1998 Electronics Times 5 May 32/6 For true volume applications, Lucent will be able to swap the laser programmed metallisation with mask programming.

1861 Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1860, 185 The Personæ, or *Mask-shells, are Tritons with a broad thin inner lip and curiously twisted mouth.

1890 Cent. Dict., *Mask-wall,..the scarp-wall of a casemate.

mask-like a.

1835 R. MANT Brit. Months I. IV. 158 Show to the sun his feather'd mail..and then to die, And leave behind a progeny, Like its own infant *mask-like state. 1899 F. T. BULLEN Way Navy 42 His face was mask-like. 1910 Daily Chron. 15 Jan. 9/1 The Japanese train their women to preserve a mask-like repose of countenance. 1993 New Yorker 18 Oct. 24/2 Lüpertz's spectral, masklike visages seem far from the ethereality of the medieval Parsifal legend.

Mask (Verb):

a. intr. To be or go about in disguise; to hide one's true form or character behind an outward show. Freq. fig. Obs.

1579 SPENSER Shepheardes Cal. Jan. 24 Now is come thy wynter's stormy state, Thy mantle mard, wherein thou maskedst late. a1591 H. SMITH 6 Serm. (1618) A4, Like Æsops Asse, masking in the Lions skinne. c1592 Faire Em sig. A3, Thus must we maske to saue our wretched liues. 1619 S. HIERON Wks. I. 21 The spirituall venome that masketh vnder these deceitfull shadowes, is either not beleeued or not thought vpon. 1632 W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. IX. 394 The French men..were cruelly massacred..; which exploit masketh vnder the name of Vesperi Siculi. a1649 W. DRUMMOND Irene in Wks. (1711) 170 How bravely soever ye mask and flowrish in Words.

b. trans. To disguise (feelings, etc.) under an assumed outward show; to conceal (intentionally or otherwise) the real nature or meaning of.

a1593 H. BARROW Four Causes Separation in T. G. Crippen Relics Puritan Martyrs (1906) 10 They..mask and disguise & seek to cover their ravin & intrusion with sheps clothing. 1598 SHAKESPEARE L.L.L. I. ii. 88 Most maculate thoughts Maister, are maskt vnder such colours. 1656 J. BRAMHALL Replic. Bp. Chalcedon iii. 153 Sedition masked under the Visard of Religion. 1749 J. CLELAND Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 47 Wanting the art to mask my sentiments, I gave them no hopes of their employer's succeeding..with me. a1816 R. B. SHERIDAN School for Scandal I. i, in Wks. (1821) II. 16 He has been obliged to mask his pretensions. 1841 I. D'ISRAELI Amenities Lit. (1867) 683 Polemical studies become political when the heads of parties mask themselves under some particular doctrine. 1865 DICKENS Our Mutual Friend II. III. v. 42 Its old simplicity of expression got masked by a certain craftiness. 1870 W. MORRIS Earthly Paradise I. I. 215 Masking with a smile The vain regrets that in their hearts arose. 1919 J. REED Ten Days that shook World iii. 51 The bourgeoisie is in control, but this control is masked by a fictitious coalition with the oborontsi parties. 1953 P. GALLICO Foolish Immortals v. 33 He saw a startled expression come over her features before she could mask it. 1988 R. CHRISTIANSEN Romantic Affinities iii. 126 Her depression set in hard and deep, successfully masked from friends and acquaintance, but painfully communicated to Shelley.

c. trans. To obscure the true character or extent of; to cause to appear differently.

1843 R. OWEN Lect. Compar. Anat. & Physiol. Invertebr. (1855) 436 That stage of the Orthopterous..insects, in which they are masked by the vermiform or true larval condition. 1857 A. GRAY First Lessons Bot. (1866) xv. 106 In Catalpa this number is masked in the calyx by irregular union, and in the stamens by abortion. 1922 W. G. KENDREW Climates of Continents 18 The south-east trades..are now at their greatest strength, but sea breezes mask them on the immediate littoral. 1931 Times 18 Feb. 6/5 It was this late stroke, masked, into the left corner which defeated the game of Joshua Crane. 1983 G. HARRIS Seventh Gate i. 5 Shock masked the pain of the first stroke. 1990 Jrnl. Molluscan Stud. 56 324 (caption) Single ceras, showing the superficial orange pigmentation which partially masks the digestive gland.

2. trans. a. To hide from view, by interposing something.

1582 R. STANYHURST tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis III. 59 Whilste thee sunbeams are maskt, hyls darcklye be muffled. 1609 SHAKESPEARE Sonnets xxxiii. sig. C3^v, The region cloude hath mask'd him from me now. a1616 SHAKESPEARE Macb. (1623) III. i. 126 Masking the Businesse from the common Eye. 1646 R. CRASHAW Delights Muses 113 A soule whose intellectuall beames No mistes doe maske no lazy steames. 1833 C. LYELL Princ. Geol. III. 210 The talus d, e, which masked the inland cliff until it was artificially laid open to view. 1871 L. STEPHEN Playground of Europe ii. 100 Rocky fragments..frequently masked by cushions of fresh fallen snow. 1928 E. BLUNDEN Undertones of War x. 104 The heart of the village is masked with its hedges and orchards from almost all ground observation. 1955 A. WEST Heritage ii. 108 Max sat at the end of the table..with his head leaning forward so that his eyebrows almost masked his eyes. 1984 K. WATERHOUSE Thinks xix. 168 There is a slight stir among the Portsea Sound crowd as the plush curtain masking the street door billows.

b. Mil. (a) To conceal (a battery, force, etc.) from the view of the enemy; (b) to hinder (a force, etc.) from action by opposing it with sufficient strength; (c) to hinder (a friendly force) by standing in its line of fire.

1706 London Gaz. No. 4256/2 Many Persons might march out with the Garison masked as the Governor should think fit. 1763 Brit. Mag. 4 204 The seamen..mounted all the guns in the battery, which we masked. 1802 C. JAMES New Mil. Dict. s.v., One toise and a half of epaulement will require two chandeliers, and 60 fascines, to mask it. 1811 DUKE OF WELLINGTON in J. Gurwood Dispatches (1838) VII. 328 The other fleche was masked. 1868 J. F. KIRK Hist. Charles the Bold III. V. iii. 411 The idea of leaving Morat unassailed, masking it with a portion of his army while prosecuting operations with the rest. 1870 Pall Mall Gaz. 3 Sept. 2 Bazaine..has succeeded in convincing the Prussians that it requires a large force to mask him. 1874 F. G. D. BEDFORD Sailor's Pocket Bk. vii. 223 Such boats must be cautioned not to mask the fire of any boats employed for the same purpose. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 Oct. 2/2 To command the sea we must be prepared at a moment's notice to mask the enemies' fleets by forces..equal to his. 1944 Return to Attack (Army Board, N.Z.) 5 The 5th Brigade remained to mask Bardia. 1990 Games Rev. Jan. 27/1 March your forces eastwards through the hills, but mask your movement from the enemy.

c. Archit. To conceal (an architectural feature) from view.

1828 H. STEUART Planter's Guide 518 It appeared extremely desirable to that artist to mask or conceal the Approach from the House and adjoining grounds. 1867 A. BARRY Life Sir C. Barry viii. 291 A cloister with one story above it, or an open arcade, might mask the building from the high ground of Bridge Street. a1878 G. G. SCOTT Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) II. 100 The roofs, internally, may be proved to have been masked by level ceilings. 1995 BNC, The high performance pvc roof membrane..is masked from general view by the use of a reconstituted Cumbrian slate mansard roof.

d. Cookery. To cover or coat (food) with a sauce or glaze.

1846 A. SOYER Cookery 106 This sauce requires to be rather thick, to mask the fish. 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 1177/2 Mask, to cover meat with any rich sauce, ragoût, &c. 1964 F. TUOHY Ice Saints (1965) xxiii. 138 The herring arrived, masked in its sauce of cream and chopped onion. 1982 T. BERGER Reinhart's Women i. 14 The oeufs en meurette when done were pinkish gray, not in themselves a ravishing display, but they were masked in the velvety, rich brown sauce made from the poaching liquid.

e. Photogr. To cover, shade, or mount with or as with a mask. See MASK n.³ 8b.

1884 W. DE W. ABNEY Treat. Photogr. (ed. 6) 212 Masking the negative. 1948 A. L. M. SOWERBY Wall's Dict. Photogr. (ed. 17) 444 A number of prints identically masked can be made rapidly and readily with one of these frames. 1969 Focal Encycl. Photogr. 921/1 Holding the hands, or a piece of card, over part of the image in an enlarger for part of the exposure, masks the print. 1986 R. NARAYAN Talkative Man 36 Don't worry that you may also be in the picture

I'll mask you.

f. Of a sound, smell, etc.: to diminish or prevent the perception of (another stimulus, esp. one affecting the same sense).

1923 Physical Rev. 21 706 When the masking tone is loud it masks tones of higher frequency better than those of frequency lower than itself. 1949 C. P. MCCORD & W. N. WITHERIDGE Odors xvii. 190 The opportunity for masking objectionable textile odors by..impregnating the goods with a definitely noticeable perfume seems to be negligible. 1960 Lang. & Speech 3 160 The low-frequency noise masks the voicing of a consonant. 1966 Jrnl. Exper. Psychol. 72 233/1 Backward masking refers to the power of certain stimuli, the masking stimuli, to disrupt or mask the processing of other stimuli, the target stimuli, which have been presented earlier. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVI. 555/1 The substantially greater intensity of one odour may mask another. 1990 D. ACKERMAN Nat. Hist. Senses iii. 149 Potatoes contain solanine, a bitter toxic alkaloid, but the Quechuas find that if they smear kaolin clay on the potatoes, it masks the bitterness.

g. Chem. To prevent (an ion or molecular group) from taking part in a certain reaction, by causing it to be in a bound or complexed form.

1934 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. 1936 Industr. & Engin. Chem. (Analyt. Ed.) 15 Nov. 409/1 A characteristic example in the analysis of anions is that..in which sulfite is masked by the addition of formaldehyde. 1970 D. D. PERRIN Masking & Demasking Chem. Reactions i. 2 Silver is masked by ammonia against precipitation as the hydroxide or chloride.

h. To protect or shield with a covering, such as adhesive tape.

1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang., Mask.., to cover for concealment or protection. 1969 R. MAYER Dict. Art Terms & Techniques 310/2 [Masking tape] is widely used in decorative painting, especially when spray coatings are to be applied, to mask or protect areas that are to be left blank or have already been painted. 1990 FineScale Modeler Feb. 18/2, I was forced to mask and paint these areas.

3. trans. a. To cover (the face or head) with a mask; to disguise with a mask. Freq. in pass.

1594 SHAKESPEARE Lucr. sig. F4, Where now I haue no one to blush with me,..To maske their browes and hide their infamie. 1598 SHAKESPEARE L.L.L. V. ii. 156 The Trompet soundes, be maskt, the maskers come. 1611 T. MIDDLETON & T. DEKKER Roaring Girle sig. I2, Good faces maskt are Iewels kept by spirits. Hide none but bad ones. 1617 F. MORYSON Itinerary III. 173 The Women no lesse then Men..goe masked. 1675 W. WYCHERLEY Country-wife III. 35 A Woman mask'd, like a cover'd Dish, gives a Man curiosity, and appetite. 1711 R. STEELE Spectator No. 8

4 All the Persons who compose this lawless Assembly are masked. 1780 Ann. Reg. II. 4 As they are masked, they do not scruple to reconnoitre the company with their spying-glasses. 1825 E. BULWER-LYTTON Zicci 15 A tall figure, masked and mantled, appeared. 1839 E. W. LANE tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 73 At the fair of Okaz, the heroes were masked. 1895 D. W. PROWSE Hist. Newfoundland xiii. 402 Some were dressed as women, with long garments, known as ‘eunchucks’. They were all masked, and ran at passengers with an Indian yell. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 103/1 In 1690 the Accademia degli Arcadi was founded at Rome..and, to avoid disputes about pre-eminence, all came to its meetings masked. 1993 Scotsman 24 Mar. 3/7 A lorry driver told the High Court in Inverness yesterday of the night he had been masked, bound and abducted by two men.

b. gen. To provide with a disguise of any kind. Now rare.

1847 TENNYSON Princess v. 386 A rout of saucy boys Brake on us..Mask'd like our maids. 1903 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 411 His ghost masks himself in no futile disguises.

c. In pass. To be equipped with a gas mask. Now rare.

1916 War Illustr. 4 607 Machine-gun section masked, ready for the enemy. 1918 H. W. WILSON Great War XI. 455 French soldier with one of the French army dogs, both masked against enemy gas attack.

Masquerade (Noun):

A. n. I. Simple uses.

1. A motley or fantastic collection of things (material or immaterial), likened to a masquerade (sense 2); a riotous or extravagant assembly.

1587 J. HARMAR tr. T. Beza Serm. 134 The Masquerada of a high masse. 1589 R. GREENE (title) The Spanish Masquerado. Wherein vnder a pleasant deuise is discouered effectuallie in certaine breefe Sentences and Mottos the pride and insolencie of the Spanish Estate. 1608 E. TOPSELL Hist. Serpents 107 Although they pretend a matchlesse vnderstanding in these misteries of Phylosophy, they haue caused others..to be blinded with the mascarados of absurdities. 1612 Proc. Virginia 45 in Capt. Smith's Wks. (1910) 124 These feindes..cast themselues in a ring about the fire, singing and dancing with excellent ill varietie;..Hauing spent neere an houre, in this maskarado [etc.].

?1614 W. DRUMMOND Urania in Poems, A Nought, a Thought, a Mascarade of Dreames. 1714 POPE Chaucer's Wife of Bath in R. Steele Poet. Misc. 18 Visits to ev'ry Church we daily paid, And march'd in ev'ry holy Masquerade. 1750 JOHNSON Rambler No. 75

16 The rich and powerful live in a perpetual masquerade, in which all about them wear borrowed characters. 1844 R. W. EMERSON Ess. 2nd Ser. i. 34 Æsop reports the whole catalogue of common daily relations through the masquerade of birds and beasts. 1991 Independent 12 Nov. 19/4 Real life..must prevail against the retromania that threatens to freeze us all in a sanitised masquerade of Merrie England.

2. A ball at which the guests wear masks and other disguises, often of an elaborate or fantastic kind; a masked ball. Formerly also: = MASQUE n. 1a (obs.).

1597 T. MORLEY Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 181 The Italians make their galliardes..plaine, and frame ditties to them, which in their mascaradoes they sing and daunce. 1612 J. MORE in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 126 The masqueradoes on Monday and Tuesday. a1652 A. WILSON Hist. Great Brit. (1653) 104 He loved such Representations, and Disguises in their Maskaradoes, as were witty, and sudden. 1660 F. BROOKE tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 365 They have sometimes their Mascurados [Fr. mascarades] called Quacones, disguising themselves like Devils.

1616 W. DRUMMOND Poems II. sig. K2 (margin) The Name which..he himselfe in the Challenges of his Martial Sports, and Mascarads, was wont to vse. 1632 W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. VIII. 369 They haue Bull-beating, Maskerats, singing of rimes, and processions of Priests. 1671 LADY M. BERTIE in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. V. 23 They say the King hath put out a Proclamation to forbid maskerades. c1720 M. PRIOR Advice of Venus 8 The loose dance, and wanton masquerade. 1742 H. WALPOLE Let. 3 Mar. in Lett. to H. Mann (1833) I. 109, I was last week at the masquerade, dressed like an old woman, and passed for a good mask. 1834 Pearl & Lit. Gaz. 1 Feb. 104/1 The bill..passed into a law, effectually to prevent masquerades, one of the most dangerous modes of European luxury and licentiousness. 1876 M. M. GRANT Sun-maid I. vii. 219 You would do for a masquerade in that costume. 1954 C. BEATON Glass of Fashion xvii. 299 The spirit of masquerade reached new heights, and almost every night there was some excuse for putting on fancy dress. 1992 Sci. Fiction Age Nov. 81/1 Science fiction fandom has had masquerades for almost as long as it has held conventions.

3. A person who takes part in a masquerade; a masquer. Also (in early use): = MASQUE n. 4. Obs.

1604 D. CARLETON Let. in M. Sullivan Court Masques James I (1913) 14 At night there was a play in the Q^s presence w^th a masquerado of certaine Scotchmen who came in w^th a sword not vnlike a matachin. 1651 tr. F. de Quintana Hist. Don Fenise 244 All the company were mute, considering for what cause this troope of unknown people were come into this assembly. Some thought that they were some Mascarads. 1667 London Gaz. No. 130/3 Several Citizens.., going disguised as Mascarades. a1668 S. WILSON Lassels's Voy. Italy II. 187 Here also it is that the Mascarades march in Carneval time. 1699 A. BOYER Royal Dict. s.v. Masque, (Personne masquée) a masker, a mascarade one that has a vizard on.

4. in masquerade: in masquerade dress, disguised. Also in extended use.

1664 T. PORTER Carnival II. i. 24 Or shall we go to this peevish woman's, That she may see how easily I bear her scorn? Come, wee'l go in Masquerade; Her frowns can neither make my Vizard blush With grief nor shame. 1671 DRYDEN Evening's Love III. 41 There are some Women without in Masquerade. 1691 A. WOOD Athenæ Oxon. II. 21 The Presbyterians said..that he [sc. Chillingworth] was always a Papist in his heart, or, as we now say, in masquerade. 1726 D. DEFOE Polit. Hist. Devil II. iii. 224 The Devil in Masquerade, Satan in full Disguise. 1756 T. NUGENT Grand Tour I. 116 The beau-monde used to go in masquerade about the streets. 1774 H. WALPOLE Let. to H. Mann 8 June, Everybody is to go in masquerade, but not in mask. 1823 BYRON Don Juan XI. xxxvii, And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but The truth in masquerade. 1882 R. L. STEVENSON New Arabian Nights I. 10, I have not the slightest objection to your friend the Major, whom I take to be a nobleman in masquerade. 1908 K. GRAHAME Wind in Willows iii. 51 Copses, dells, quarries and all hidden places..seemed to ask him to overlook their shabby poverty for a while, till they could riot in rich masquerade as before.

5. a. The action or an act of masquerading; the assumption of a disguise or false character; a pretence.

a1670 C. GUISE Mem. in T. Raymond Autobiogr. (1917) 122, I concluded to give my selfe up to mine oune inclinations and make a disguised journey, or mascarade..about England. 1826 J. F. COOPER Last of Mohicans II. v. 84 He entirely sacrificed every appearance of the warrior to the masquerade of a buffoon. 1868 M. E. BRADDON Run to Earth I. xi. 260 ‘What, in heaven's name, is the meaning of this masquerade?’ The surgeon removed his broad-brimmed hat [etc.]... Nothing could have been more perfect than his disguise. 1902 E. BANKS Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl 268 During my masquerade as an American heiress. 1984 A. F. LOEWENSTEIN This Place 42 Only she was pretending, always pretending, living some unreal masquerade.

b. A Spanish cavalry exercise. Obs. rare.

a1674 EARL OF CLARENDON Life (1761) I. 223 The Masquerade is an Exercise They learned from the Moors, performed by Squadrons of Horse, seeming to charge each other with great Fierceness; with Bucklers in their left Hands and a Kind of Cane in their right.

6. fig. a. False outward show; shallow pretence, deceit. Obs.

1674 W. LLOYD Difference Church & Court of Rome 23 This convention..was nothing but a Scene dressed up in Masquerade. 1680 Honest Cavalier 16, I openly declare, without any Masquerade, That [etc.]. 1781 G. CRABBE Library 25 The smooth tongue's habitual masquerade. 1863 T. WOOLNER My Beautiful Lady Introd. 7 For none can strip this complex masquerade And know who languishes with secret wounds.

b. A grotesque imitation, a travesty. Now rare.

1847 B. DISRAELI Tancred II. III. v. 80 ‘Thou son of a slave!’ exclaimed the lady, ‘thou masquerade of humanity!’ 1942 M. MCCARTHY Company she Keeps (1943) iii. 80 A kind of masquerade of sexuality, like the rubber breasts homosexuals put on for drags.

7. orig. and chiefly Sc. A kind of textile fabric, perh. usually a striped worsted. Obs.

1696-8 in E. M. Graham Maxtones of Cultoquhey (1935) 52, 1 ell maskarad. 1711 J. ANDERSON Countrey-man's Let. to Curate 95 He goes Generally in Winter in good thick Rug, and in Summer most part in a Highland Plaid, masquerade being at any time too Limber for him. c1784 in F. Montgomery Textiles in Amer., 1650-1870 (1984) 64 Masquerade Holland wove instead of our English Worsted Stuffs. 1860 F. W. FAIRHOLT Costume in Eng. (ed. 2) (Gloss.), Masquerade, a shot silk of various tints.

II. Compounds.

8. General attrib., as masquerade ball, dress, room, etc.

1719 C. JOHNSON Masquerade III. i. 33 (stage direct.) Scene, a Masquerade-Room in imitation of that in the Hay-Market. 1766 M. A. PORNY Elem. Heraldry vi. §3 (1787) 222 This Ornament [sc. the mitre], with other Masquerade Garments. 1772 Songs Costume (1849) 249 An ass may look fierce in a masquerade dress. a1777 S. FOOTE Nabob (1778) II. 33 A masquerade ticket, is more negotiable there than a note from the Bank. 1824 M. R. MITFORD Our Village 1st Ser. 236 A Spanish masquerade-dress. 1841 F. MARRYAT Poacher xliii, The first masquerade-night at Vauxhall. 1851 J. G. BRUFF Jrnl. 24 May in Gold Rush II. V. 963 We..enjoyed an excellent dinner..and then looked in at the Masquerade ball. 1925 A. LOOS Gentlemen prefer Blondes ii. 54 Last night there was quite a maskerade ball on the ship. 1969 A. LURIE Real People 40 I've always thought I shared Clark's dislike of masquerade parties. 1986 Oxf. Art Jrnl. Jan. 38/2 Masquerade motifs (e.g. pierrots, harlequins, ballerinas and other exotic characters) filled page after page of English illustrated magazines.

B. adj. (attrib.). Befitting a masquerade; pretend, sham. Obs.

1720 R. WELTON tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God II. xvi. 430 This very same Temptation oftentimes attacks the Servants of God, in a more Masquerade Address. 1749 H. FIELDING Tom Jones V. XIII. vii. 64 The Female still speaking in her Masquerade Voice. 1766 O. GOLDSMITH Vicar of Wakefield I. xviii. 194 [He] demanded whether I was the real chaplain of the company, or whether it was only to be my masquerade character in the play. 1796 J. G. HOLMAN Abroad & at Home III. ii. 73 He twigs me. He knows Dicky here in his real and masquerade character both.