# mast
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: mäst, IPA: /mɑːst/
* (US, Canada, Northern England) IPA: /mæst/
* Homophone: massed (/mæst/)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑːst, -æst
* Rhymes: -æst

### Etymology 1

From Middle English mast, from Old English mæst (“mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *mast, from Proto-Germanic *mastaz (“mast, sail-pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *mazdos (“pole, mast”). Cognate with Dutch mast, German Mast, and via Indo-European with Latin mālus, Russian мост (most, “bridge”), Irish adhmad.

#### Noun

mast (plural masts)
* (nautical, communication, aviation) A tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, sails or observation platforms on a ship, the main rotor of a helicopter, flags, floodlights, meteorological instruments, or communications equipment, such as an aerial, usually supported by guy-wires (except in the case of a helicopter). [from 9th c.]
* (naval) A non-judicial punishment ("NJP"); a disciplinary hearing under which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those under his command. [from 17th c.]

##### Hyponyms

(tall, slim post on a ship):
* cage mast
* foremast
* lattice mast
* mainmast
* military mast
* mizzenmast
* pagoda mast
* pole mast
* topmast
* tripod mast

##### Derived terms

* admiral's mast
* before the mast
* captain's mast
* flag mast
* foremast
* half-mast
* jiggermast
* jury mast
* lash oneself to the mast
* mainmast
* mast bumping
* mast-cell
* mast climbing
* mast coat
* mast foot
* masthead
* mastless
* mast step
* meritorious mast
* mizzen-mast
* nail one's colors to the mast
* nail one's colours to the mast
* royal mast
* spankermast
* tie oneself to the mast

##### Translations
#### Verb

mast (third-person singular simple present masts, present participle masting, simple past and past participle masted)
* To supply and fit a mast to (a ship). [from 16th c.]

##### Derived terms

* demast
* dismast

##### Translations
#### See also

* boom
* column
* crow's nest
* flagpole
* pole
* pylon
* spar
* top, maintop, foretop, mizzentop
* tower

### Etymology 2

From Old English mæst (“fallen nuts, food for swine”) and mæstan (“to fatten”), from West Germanic; probably related to meat.

#### Noun

mast (countable and uncountable, plural masts)
* The fruit of forest-trees (beech, oak, chestnut, pecan, etc.), especially if having fallen from the tree, used as fodder for pigs and other animals. [from 10th c.]
** 1614–1615, Homer, “The Tenth Booke of Homers Odysses”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC, page 151:She ſhut them ſtraight in ſties; and gaue them meate / Oke-maſt, and beech, and Cornell fruite, they eate, […]
** 1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 93, lines 755–756:The Winter comes, and then the falling Maſt, / For greedy Swine, provides a full repaſt.
** 1715, Robert South, “A Sermon on Proverbs i. 32.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached at Several Times, and upon Several Occasions, volume IV, London: […] G. James, for Jonah Bowyer […], →OCLC, pages 73–74:[T]hey feed and grovel like Swine under an Oak, filling themſelves with the Maſt, but never ſo much as looking up, either to the Bows that bore, or the Hands that ſhook it down.
** 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 162:He […] would begin to pick up the seed-cases or mast, squeeze each one with his fingers to see if it were fertile, and drop it if it were not.

##### Derived terms

* beech mast
* mastless
* mast seeding
* masty
* mast year

##### Translations
#### Verb

mast (third-person singular simple present masts, present participle masting, simple past and past participle masted)
* (of swine and other animals) To feed on forest seed or fruit.
* (agriculture, forestry, ecology, of a population of plants) To produce a very large quantity of fruit or seed in certain years but not others.
** 1985, Michael Fenner, Seed ecology‎, page 33:Any individual tree which masted in a generally non-mast year would be subjected to the exclusive attention of the seed predators and so would be selected against.
** 2004, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Christian Körner, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Forest Diversity and Function: Temperate and Boreal Systems‎, page 28:However, if this were true, all or most masting species (e.g., Fagus and Quercus) in a forest would have to mast in synchrony to be effective against generalist herbivores.
** 2008, Chris Rowthorn, Muhammad Cohen, China Williams, Borneo‎, page 50:Because dipterocarp seeds are winged and spin gracefully as they fall, the dispersal of millions of dipterocarp seeds during a masting event is one of the greatest spectacles that you can see on planet Earth.

### Etymology 3

Clipping of Masteron.

#### Noun

mast (uncountable)
* (bodybuilding slang) The anabolic steroid drostanolone propionate, also known as Masteron

### Etymology 4

From French masse, with -t probably after Etymology 1, above.

#### Noun

mast (plural masts)
* (obsolete, billiards) A type of heavy cue, with the broad end of which one strikes the ball. [18th–19th c.]
** 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:Godfrey thus conquered, pretended to lose his temper, curs'd his own ill luck, swore that the table had a cast, and that the balls did not run true, changed his mast, and with great warmth challenged his enemy to double his sum.

### Related terms

* mast cell

### Anagrams

* Mats, tams, amts, mats, TAMs, MTAs, ATMs, AMTs, MATs, Stam, ASTM, stam, MATS

## Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech mast, from Proto-Slavic *mastь.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈmast]
* Hyphenation: mast
* Rhymes: -ast

### Noun

mast f
* ointment

#### Derived terms

* mastička f

#### Related terms

* mastit
* mastnota
* mastný

### Further reading

* “mast”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “mast”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “mast”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Danish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German mast.

### Noun

mast c (singular definite masten, plural indefinite master)
* mast

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɑst/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: mast
* Rhymes: -ɑst

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch mast, from Old Dutch *mast, from Proto-West Germanic *mast, from Proto-Germanic *mastaz.

#### Noun

mast m (plural masten, diminutive mastje n)
* mast (pole on a ship, to which sails can be rigged)

##### Derived terms

* ankermast
* bezaansmast
* fokkemast
* grote mast
* hoofdmast
* jagermast
* kruismast
* meermast
* scheepsmast
* zendmast

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: mas
* Negerhollands: mast
* → Japanese: マスト

### Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch mast, from the root of met (“meat”), similar to German Mast.

#### Noun

mast m (plural masten, diminutive mastje n)
* mast, fodder for pigs or other animals made up of acorns and beechnuts

### Anagrams

* stam, tams

## Estonian
### Etymology

From either Middle Low German mast or German Mast.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmɑsʲt/

### Noun

mast (genitive masti, partitive masti)
* mast
* (card games) suit
* (poker) flush

#### Compounds

* mastirida

#### Descendants

* → Ingrian: mašti

## Middle English
### Adjective

mast
* Alternative form of mased

## Middle French
### Etymology

Old French mast

### Noun

mast m (plural masts)
* mast (structure found on watercraft)

#### Descendants

* French: mât

## Northern Kurdish
### Noun

mast m
* yoghurt

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1

From Middle Low German mast (“mast”).

#### Noun

mast f or m (definite singular masta or masten, indefinite plural master, definite plural mastene)
* mast

##### Synonyms

* stang

##### Derived terms

* fokkemast
* stormast
* radiomast
* lysmast

### Etymology 2
#### Alternative forms

* masa, maset

#### Verb

mast
* past participle of mase

### References

* “mast” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* master (non-standard since 2012)

### Etymology

From Middle Low German mast.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mɑst/

### Noun

mast f (definite singular masta, indefinite plural master, definite plural mastene)
* mast

### References

* “mast” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old Czech
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mastь.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (13th CE) /ˈmast/
* IPA: (15th CE) /ˈmast/

### Noun

mast f
* ointment

#### Related terms

* mazati
* mastný
* mastnost

#### Descendants

* Czech: mast

### Further reading

* Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “mast”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

## Old English
### Adjective

māst
* superlative degree of miċel; most

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* maste

### Etymology

Borrowed from Frankish *mast.

### Noun

mast oblique singular, m (oblique plural maz or matz, nominative singular maz or matz, nominative plural mast)
* mast (structure found on watercraft)

#### Descendants

* Middle French: mast
** French: mât
* Norman: mât
* → Spanish: maste
** ⇒ Spanish: mástel (spelling influenced by árbol)
*** ⇒ Spanish: mástil
* → Old Galician-Portuguese: masto, maste
** Portuguese: mastro, (archaic) masto
*** ⇒ Portuguese: mastaréu

## Old Frisian
### Alternative forms

* mēst

### Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *maist, from Proto-Germanic *maist, *maistaz. Cognates include Old English mǣst and Old Saxon mēst.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈmaːst/

### Adjective

māst
* superlative degree of grāt

### Adverb

māst
* most

#### Descendants

* Saterland Frisian: maast
* West Frisian: meast

#### References

* Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 28

## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mastь (Russian масть (mastʹ), Polish maść). Compare mazati.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mâːst/

### Noun

mȃst f (Cyrillic spelling ма̑ст)
* grease
* ointment
* fat
* lard
* schmaltz

#### Declension
### References

* “mast”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

## Swedish
### Etymology

From Middle Low German mast, from Old Saxon *mast, from Proto-West Germanic *mast.

### Noun

mast c
* a mast (that carries a sail)
* a mast (similar tall structure with other uses)
    radiomastradio mast

#### Derived terms

* antennmast
* fockmast
* förmast
* gäckmast
* kryssmast
* mastbygge
* mastcell
* mastfritt
* masthög
* mastkorg
* masttopp
* mesanmast
* mobilmast
* pålmast
* radiomast
* signalmast
* stormast
* svajmast
* sändarmast
* telemast
* tv-mast
* undermast

#### Related terms

* masta
* masta av
* mastad

### References

* mast in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* mast in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
* mast in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
* mast in Svenskt nautiskt lexikon (1920)

### Anagrams

* Mats, mats, samt, stam

## Welsh
### Etymology

Borrowed from English mast

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mast/

### Noun

mast m (plural mastiau or mestys or mestydd)
* (nautical) mast
    Synonym: hwylbren
* (telecommunications) mast

#### Derived terms

* mast radio (“radio mast”)
* mast teledu (“television mast”)

### References

* ↑ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “mast”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

## Zazaki
### Noun

mast n
* yoghurt (a milk-based product thickened by a bacterium-aided curdling process)

#### Synonyms

* most
* mhost