housemaster

American  

[hous-mas-ter, -mah-ster] / ˈhaʊsˌmæs tər, -ˌmɑ stər /

noun

1. a man who is in charge of a house or a dormitory in a private school for boys.

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housemaster British  

/ ˈhaʊsˌmɪstrɪs, ˈhaʊsˌmɑːstə /

noun

1. a teacher, esp in a boarding school, responsible for the pupils in his house

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Other Word Forms

• housemastership
  noun
• housemistress
  noun

Etymology

Origin of housemaster

First recorded in 1875–80; house + master

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

housemaster

Born in Edinburgh, Fr Mackenzie taught at Carlekemp during two spells between the 1950s and 1970s, and was a teacher and housemaster at Fort Augustus between 1977 and 1988.

From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2021

For one thing, he had the good fortune to be assigned to a housemaster, Arthur Goodhart, who was a lax disciplinarian and who thought that music was more important than sports.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 5, 2018

Now back in print, Jane Gardam’s 1976 novel features an awkward teenage girl, Marigold Green, living with her widower father, a housemaster at a boys’ school in the north of England.

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2016

His housemaster told the straight-A student's mother: "Thomas will either end up in jail or be president."

From The Guardian ● Dec. 20, 2012

The housemaster was the delightful Reverend S. S. Mokitimi, who later became the first African president of the Methodist Church of South Africa.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela