# mast

> English word · Noun · IPA /mɑːst/ · frequency rank #14,584

## Definitions
1. 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).
2. A non-judicial punishment ("NJP"); a disciplinary hearing under which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those under his command.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **MS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-ms)
- **MT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mt)
- **may** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-may)
- **met** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-met)
- **Mrs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mrs)
- **max** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-max)
- **MPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mps)
- **mat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mat)
- **mit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mit)
- **MoS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mos)
- **MSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-msm)
- **MSG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-msg)
- **mot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mot)
- **MSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-msp)
- **Mau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mau)
- **mes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mes)
- **MSN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-msn)
- **maw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-maw)
- **MCS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mcs)
- **MMS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mast-vs-mms)

## Common misspellings (5)
`amst`, `masst`, `mastt`, `mmast`, `msat`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mast