masque

American  

[mask, mahsk] / mæsk, mɑsk /

Or mask

noun

• masques
  plural

1. 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.

2. a dramatic composition for such entertainment.

3. a masquerade; masked ball; revel.

4. mask.

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masque British  

/ mɑːsk /

noun

1. a dramatic entertainment of the 16th to 17th centuries in England, consisting of pantomime, dancing, dialogue, and song, often performed at court

2. the words and music written for a masque

3. short for masquerade

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• masques
  plural

Etymology

Origin of masque

From Middle French, dating back to 1505–15; see origin at mask

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

masque masques

The actual transformation occurs in Jonson’s subsequent masque.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025

I also got a hydrating, collagen-boosting facial, an herbal hair steam and a conditioning hair masque.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

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

Ash wondered suddenly if Ana and Clara were dancing with the hunters at the royal masque.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

Salieri adroitly handles the dizzying array of situations that Beaumarchais throws his way, generating Oriental marches, love duets, shepherd masques, and bloodthirsty monologues.

From The New Yorker ● May 27, 2019

This was a 21st-century equivalent of those court masques loved and indulged in by Tudor monarchs.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2012

Mr. Sams modeled the tone of his libretto on the 18th-century English pastiches and masques written by John Dryden and Alexander Pope.

From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2011

“As You Like It” and “The Tempest” contain festive masques with dancing.

From Washington Post

Then ushering your wife, and Mistress Ugly, her daughter, to plays and masques at court.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays Volume 14 of 15 by Robert Dodsley