Masque meaning

măsk
A dramatic entertainment, usually performed by masked players representing mythological or allegorical figures, that was popular in England in the 1500s and early 1600s.
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(archaic) Words and music written for a masque.
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(archaic) A shortening of the word masquerade.
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Archaic form of mask.
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A facial mask.

Mud masque; clay masque.

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Archaic form of mask.
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A dramatic verse composition written for such an entertainment.
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A form of dramatic entertainment popular among the English aristocracy during the 16th and 17th cent., usually based on a mythical or allegorical theme and featuring lavish costumes, scenery, music, dancing, etc.: originally it contained no dialogue.
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A dramatic composition written for such an entertainment, usually in verse.
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(archaic) (in 16th-17th Century England & Europe) A dramatic performance, often performed at court as a royal entertainment, consisting of dancing, dialogue, pantomime and song.
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A masked ball.
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Origin of masque

  • French mask
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • Borrowing from French masque.
    From Wiktionary

Masque Sentence Examples

  • I was to be Ceres in a kind of masque given by the blind girls.

  • A pageant and masque given by 2,000 participants before audiences of Ioo,000 led to the construction in 1917 of a municipal theatre in Forest Park, with accommodation for 9,270.

  • His dramatic work includes La Lepreuse (1896); Ton Sang and L'Enchantement (1900); Le Masque and Resurrection (1902); Maman Colibri (1904); La Marche Nuptiale (1905); Poliche (1906); Les Flambeaux (1912); Le Phalene (1913).

  • How well I remember the graceful draperies that enfolded me, the bright autumn leaves that wreathed my head, and the fruit and grain at my feet and in my hands, and beneath all the piety of the masque the oppressive sense of coming ill that made my heart heavy.

  • In 1613 The Masque of Flowers was presented by the members of Gray's Inn in the Old Banqueting House in honour of the marriage of the infamous Carr, earl of Somerset, and the equally infamous Lady Frances, daughter of the earl of Suffolk.

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Also Mentioned In

Words near masque in the Dictionary