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master

mas·terUK /ˈmɑːstə/noun, adjective, verb

master is spelled M-A-S-T-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables (mas·ter). It appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “master vs masters” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, master means “Someone who has control over something or someone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of master is masters.

How many letters and syllables are in master?

Letters6: M-A-S-T-E-R
Syllables2: mas·ter
In writing85 times per million words; the 1,251st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is master?

Master appears 85 times per million words in written English, the 1,251st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce master?

  • UK /ˈmɑːstə/
  • /ˈmastə/
  • /ˈmastəɾ/

Master has 2 syllables, split mas·ter in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-master.wav, En-us-master.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-Master.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with master

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

master vs masters10 B

Also written: masta.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with master?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as master from its last stressed vowel (/ɑstə/, British pronunciation):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: stream.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of master

  • masters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • mas'r
  • massa
  • massah
  • massy
  • masta
  • mastah
  • mastuh
  • mastering participle, present
  • mastered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does master mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Someone who has control over something or someone.

  2. 2

    The owner of an animal or slave.

  3. 3

    The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.

  4. 4

    datedA male head of household.

  5. 5

    Someone who employs others.

  6. 6

    An expert at something.

    Mark Twain was a master of fiction.

  7. 7

    A tradesman who is qualified to teach apprentices.

  8. 8

    datedA male schoolteacher.

  9. 9

    A vessel having a specified number of masts.

    a two-master

adjective

  1. 1

    Masterful.

    a master performance

  2. 2

    Main, principal or predominant.

  3. 3

    Highly skilled.

    master batsman

  4. 4

    Original.

    master copy

verb

  1. 1

    To be a master.

  2. 2

    To become the master of; to subject to one's will, control, or authority; to conquer; to overpower; to subdue.

  3. 3

    To learn to a high degree of proficiency.

    It took her years to master the art of needlecraft.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo own; to possess.

  5. 5

    To make a master copy of.

  6. 6

    To earn a Master's degree.

    He mastered in English at the state college.

noun

as Master
  1. 1

    Prepended to a boy's name or surname as a (now somewhat formal) form of address.

  2. 2

    A religious teacher, often as an honorific title.

  3. 3

    The title of the head of certain colleges and schools.

  4. 4

    A master's degree.

  5. 5

    A person holding a master's degree, as a title.

  6. 6

    The title of the eldest son of a Scots lord.

    The eldest son of Lord Forbes is known as the Master of Forbes.

  7. 7

    The owner of a slave, in some literature.

  8. 8

    Used as the title of a dominant, especially a male one.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Master in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmaître (someone who has control over something or…), maîtriser (to learn to a high degree)
GermanMeister (someone who has control over something or…), meistern, beherrschen (to learn to a high degree), Frauchen, Herrchen (owner of an animal or slave), Meisterin (expert at something)
Portuguesemestre, amo (someone who has control over something or…), dono, proprietário, senhor (owner of an animal or slave), capitão (captain of a merchant ship)
Spanishamo (someone who has control over something or…), maestro, máster (expert at something), capitán (captain of a merchant ship), patrón (someone who employs others), maestrear (to be a master)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does master come from?

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (as in magnus (“great”), also cognate of English much and mickle) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after master