antimasque

Sometimes an·ti·mask

[an-ti-mask]

noun

1. a comic or grotesque performance, as a dance, presented before or between the acts of a masque.

antimasque

/ ˈæntɪˌmɑːsk /

noun

1. a comic or grotesque dance, presented between the acts of a masque

Other Word Forms

• antimasquer noun
• antimasker noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of antimasque¹

First recorded in 1600–10; anti- + masque; replacing antemask; ante-, mask

Example Sentences

These gallant Templars were accompanied by the finest band of picked musicians that London could afford, and were followed by the antimasque of beggars and cripples, who were mounted on “the poorest, leanest jades that could be gotten out of the dirt-carts.”

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After the beggars’ antimasque came a band of pipes, whistles, and instruments, sounding notes like those of birds, of all sorts, in excellent harmony; and these ushered in “the antimasque of birds,” which consisted of an owl in an ivy bush, with innumerable other birds in a cluster about the owl, gazing upon her.

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Then came a wild, harsh band of northern music, bagpipes, horns, &c., followed by the “antimasque of projectors,” who were in turn succeeded by a string of chariots drawn by four horses abreast, filled with “gods and goddesses,” and preceded by heathen priests.

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Antimask, Antimasque, an′ti-mask, n. a ridiculous interlude dividing the parts of the more serious mask.

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Jonson's Masque of Oberon, produced January 1, 1611, contains an antimasque of satyrs which may bear some relation to the similar dance in IV, iv, 331 ff.

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