definition of the word mask

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Mask

Wikipedia

French masque < Italian maschera (compare Late Latin masca, mascha, mascus, Spanish and Portuguese máscara, German Maske); perhaps < Arabic مسخرة (maskhara(t)) ‘buffoon, fool, pleasantry, anything ridiculous’ < سخرة (sakhira) to ridicule, to laugh at. Compare masque, masquerade

mask (plural masks)

1. A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.

   a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask

2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel; a frolic; a delusive show - Bacon
   • Milton:

     This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask.

4. (obsolete) A dramatic performance, formerly in vogue, in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
5. (architecture) A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like; -- called also mascaron.
6. (fortification) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
7. (fortification) A screen for a battery
8. (zoology) The lower lip of the larva of a dragon fly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
9. (Puebloan anthropology) The ceremonial objects used in Puebloan kachina cults that resemble Euro-American masks. (The term is objected as an appropriate translation by Puebloan peoples as it emphasizes imitation but ignores power and representational intent.)

• death mask
• Mask house, (Obsolete), a house for masquerades
• sleep mask
• unmask

Definition from Wiktionary Content avaible with GNU Free Documentation License

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