masque
Americannoun
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a form of aristocratic entertainment in England in the 16th and 17th centuries, originally consisting of pantomime and dancing but later including dialogue and song, presented in elaborate productions given by amateur and professional actors.
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a dramatic composition for such entertainment.
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a masquerade; masked ball; revel.
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mask.
noun
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a dramatic entertainment of the 16th to 17th centuries in England, consisting of pantomime, dancing, dialogue, and song, often performed at court
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the words and music written for a masque
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short for masquerade
Etymology
Origin of masque
From Middle French, dating back to 1505–15; see origin at mask
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The actual transformation occurs in Jonson’s subsequent masque.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025
The masque, performed by gentle spirits, enchants the betrothed.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2025
The spirit trumpet is one of a number of arcane and intriguing objects in Linder’s exhibition, which is titled The House of Fame, in tribute to a Ben Jonson masque and Chaucer’s dream poem.
From The Guardian • Mar. 22, 2018
This fall, there was another seventeenth-century masque playing in London, John Milton’s “Comus: A Masque in Honour of Chastity,” at the Globe’s candlelit indoor playhouse.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 2, 2016
Years ago, her grandfather had taken her to see a masque in Bridgetown, in which a troupe of players from England had acted out the ancient Christmas story.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
