mask

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā from which English mesh is regularly inherited. Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier. Probably related to Hebrew מַסֵּכָה (masseiḥa).

noun

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
   Just a few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the CDC—issued new mask guidelines. Under these new guidelines, most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free. And based on the projections, more of the country will reach that point across the next couple of weeks. March 1, 2022, Joe Biden, “Remarks of President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address As Prepared for Delivery”, in whitehouse.gov, archived from the original on 2022-03-02
2. That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
   Grouchy and wary and tender, he’s a sozzled hedonist seemingly out for himself—though his party-animal facade is just a mask for his bottomless generosity. Oct 26 2021, Stephanie Zacharek, “The 19 Most Underrated Movies on Netflix”, in Time
3. A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.
4. A person wearing a mask.
   the mask that has the arm of the Indian queen 1880, George Washington Cable, The Grandissimes: A Story of Creole Life
   Jones, now taking the mask by the hand, fell to entreating her in the most earnest manner, to acquaint him where he might find Sophia; and when he could obtain no direct answer, he began to upbraid her gently […] 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
5. (obsolete) A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters.
6. (architecture) A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like.
7. (fortification) In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
8. (fortification) A screen for a battery.
9. (zoology) The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
10. (publishing, film) A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.
11. (computing, programming) A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
12. (computer graphics) A two-color (black and white) bitmap generated from an image, used to create transparency in the image.
13. (heraldry) The head of a fox, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
14. (psychology) A social phenomenon where autistic people learn, practice, and perform certain behaviors and suppress others in order to appear more neurotypical.

verb

1. (transitive) To cover (the face or something else), in order to conceal the identity or protect against injury; to cover with a mask or visor.
2. (transitive) To disguise as something else.
3. (transitive) To conceal from view or knowledge; to cover; to hide.
   The opponent must not be able to recognize when we inhale and when we exhale. We achieve this by breathing with the diaphragm and we do not raise the shoulders while breathing. In particular we must mask when we are out of breath. 1998, Rudolf Jakhel, Modern Sports Karate: Basics of Techniques and Tactics, Meyer & Meyer Sport
   Many autistic people have language and cognitive skills; [and] they mask their autism, cover up social discomfort, and work hard to be someone they are not, so people often see them as “fitting in” just fine. 2020, Lisa Morgan, Mary Donahue, Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum: Insightful Analysis with Practical Applications, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, page 118
4. (transitive, military) To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of.
5. (transitive, military) To cover or keep in check.
   to mask a body of troops or a fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out
6. (intransitive) To take part as a masker in a masquerade.
   noble Gentilmen / who daunced & masked wt thes fayer ladyes & gentillwomen 1641, George Cavendish, Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinall, his Lyffe and Deathe
7. (intransitive) To wear a mask.
   Dr. Shelita Dattani, director of professional affairs at the Canadian Pharmacists Association, says […]. “The efforts that we’re taking to reduce the spread of COVID are working … people are masking and distancing and staying away from each other and using hand hygiene, so I think all of these efforts combined are contributing to lower rates.” 2020-12-30, Jaren Kerr, “Flu almost non-existent this year as coronavirus cases rise across Canada”, in The Globe and Mail
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To disguise oneself, to be disguised in any way.
9. (intransitive) To conceal or disguise one's autism.
   Masking is exhausting and some autistics require copious amounts of time afterwards to recover from hiding who they are and pretending to be someone they aren't. Even when autistics mask they don't always pass fully as an NT person. 2018, Sally Cat, PDA by PDAers: From Anxiety to Avoidance and Masking to Meltdowns, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, page 86
   So, masking seems to be a very poor explanation for the difference in gender diagnosis of autism. In particular, masking requires theory of mind. How can autistic people successfully mask if they struggle with this ability? 2021, Yenn Purkis, Wenn B. Lawson, The Autistic Trans Guide to Life, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, page 132
10. (transitive) to cover or shield a part of a design or picture in order to prevent reproduction or to safeguard the surface from the colors used when working with an air brush or painting
11. (transitive, computing) To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask.
    That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero. This is because ANDing anything with a zero produces a zero, while ANDing any bit with a 1 leaves the bit unchanged[…] 1993, Richard E. Haskell, Introduction to computer engineering, page 287
12. (transitive, computing) To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by setting or unsetting the associated bit.
    Some hardware interrupts can be masked, or disabled; that is, the CPU is told to ignore them. 1998, Rick Grehan, Robert Moote, Ingo Cyliax, Real-Time Programming: A Guide to 32-bit Embedded Development, page 199

Etymology 2

From Middle English maske, from Old English max, masċ (“net”), from Proto-West Germanic *maskā (“mesh, netting, mask”). Doublet of mesh and mask above.

noun

1. mesh
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.

Etymology 3

From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc (“mash”). Doublet of mash.

noun

1. (UK dialectal) Mash.

verb

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To mash.
2. (transitive, UK dialectal) (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.
3. (transitive, Scotland dialectal) To be infused or steeped.
4. (UK dialectal, Scotland) To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.

Etymology 4

From Middle English masken, short for *maskeren, malskren (“to bewilder; be confused, wander”). More at masker.

verb

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To bewilder; confuse.