mascot

[mas-kot, -kuh t]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mascot ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an animal, person, or thing adopted by a group as its representative symbol and supposed to bring good luck: The U.S. Navy mascot is a goat.

Nearby words

Origin of mascot

1880–85; < French mascotte < Provençal mascoto talisman, charm, derivative of masco sorceress. See mask

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mascot

The support of a mascot has confused Christianity and sports.
Sherman Alexie on His New Film, the Redskins, and Why It's OK to Laugh at His Work|William O’Connor|August 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Joe Camel: For about a decade beginning in 1987, Camel started to market its products using a mascot called “Old Joe.”
Big Tobacco’s Biggest Lies|Gideon Resnick|January 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What if a Serb mortar team carried a little ginger cat as their mascot?
5 War Books You May Not Have in Your Library|Jake Tapper|November 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The fact is, the mascot may be the quiet kid sitting next to you in class with his head down.
Hulu is the New Netflix: Why You Should Watch ‘Behind the Mask’|Anna Brand|October 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST

I ended up starting a sub shop called the Cheba Hut “Toasted” Subs, and the camper van is our mascot.
Dude, Where’s My Bus? Fast Times in the Iconic VW Van|Scott Jennings|October 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Shouldn't you think that men's clubs might like to adopt boys, as a sort of mascot?
Dear Enemy|Jean Webster
He learned English and later joined an American division as a mascot.
Swamp Island|Mildred A. Wirt
It was a hideous tangle to owe itself to the joyous gambollings of the firemen's mascot dog.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush|Francis Lynde
The story of “The Mascot” is charmingly romantic, and much more consistent and coherent than the usual plots of the comic operas.
The Standard Light Operas|George Upton
But at the passing instant the mascot dog, leaping and whirling like a four-footed dervish, sprang backward.
The Honorable Senator Sage-Brush|Francis Lynde

British Dictionary definitions for mascot

mascot

noun

a person, animal, or thing considered to bring good luck

Word Origin for mascot

C19: from French mascotte, from Provençal mascotto charm, from masco witch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mascot

mascot

"talisman, charm," 1881, from provincial French mascotte "sorcerer's charm, 'faerie friend,' good luck piece" (19c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from or related to Provençal mascoto "sorcery, fetish" (cf. Narbonnese manuscript, 1233, mascotto "procuress, enchantment, bewitchment in gambling"), from masco "witch," from Old Provençal masca, itself of unknown origin, perhaps from Medieval Latin masca "mask, specter, nightmare" (see mask (n.)). Popularized by French composer Edmond Audran's 1880 comic operetta "La Mascotte," about a household "fairy" who gives luck to an Italian peasant, performed in a toned-down translation in England from fall 1881.