Mask

n. [Fr. masque, L. Lat. musca, mascha, mascas, Ger. maske, Sp. & Pg. máscara, It. máschera, from Ar. maskharat, buffoon, fool, pleasantry, any thing ridiculous or mirthful, from sākhira, to ridicule, to laugh at.]

1Sense 1. A cover for the face; that which conceals the face, especially a cover with apertures for the eyes and mouth; a visor.

2Sense 2. Hence, that which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.

3Sense 3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, in which the company all wear masks; a masquerade; hence, a revel, a bustle; a piece of mummery.

This same truth is a naked and open daylight, that doth not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs of the world half so stately and daintily as candle-lights. Bacon.

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

4Sense 4. A dramatic performance written in a tragic style, without attention to rules of composition or probability, and introducing such characters that the actors must be masked.

5Sense 5. (Arch.) A piece of sculpture representing some grotesque form, to fill and adorn vacant places, as in friezes, panels of doors, keys of arches, &c.

[imp. & p. p. MASKED (măskt); p. pr. & vb. n. MASKING.]

1Sense 1. To cover, as the face, by way of concealment or defense against injury; to conceal with a mask or visor.

They must all be masked and vizarded. Shak.

2Sense 2. To disguise; to cover; to hide. “Masking the business from the common eye.” Shak.

Masked battery (Mil.), a battery so constructed as to be disguised, or not to be seen by an enemy until it opens its fire. Scott.