Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Mace

Mace

(mās)
,
Noun.
[Jav. & Malay.
mās
, fr. Skr.
māsha
a bean.]
A money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael; also, a weight of 57.98 grains.
S. W. Williams.

Mace

,
Noun.
[F.
macis
, L.
macis
,
macir
, Gr. [GREEK]; cf. Skr.
makar
anda the nectar or honey of a flower, a fragrant mango.]
(Bot.)
A kind of spice; the aril which partly covers nutmegs. See
Nutmeg
.
Red mace
is the aril of
Myristica tingens
, and
white mace
that of
Myristica Otoba
, – East Indian trees of the same genus with the nutmeg tree.

Mace

,
Noun.
[OF.
mace
, F.
masse
, from (assumed) L.
matea
, of which the dim.
mateola
a kind of mallet or beetle, is found.]
1.
A heavy staff or club of metal; a spiked club; – used as weapon in war before the general use of firearms, especially in the Middle Ages, for breaking metal armor.
Chaucer.
Death with his
mace
petrific . . . smote.
Milton.
2.
Hence:
A staff borne by, or carried before, a magistrate as an ensign of his authority.
“Swayed the royal mace.”
Wordsworth.
3.
An officer who carries a mace as an emblem of authority; a macebearer.
Macaulay.
4.
A knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it supple.
5.
(Billiards)
A rod for playing billiards, having one end suited to resting on the table and pushed with one hand.

Webster 1828 Edition


Mace

MACE

,
Noun.
An ensign of authority borne before magistrates. Originally, the mace was a club or instrument of war, made of iron and much used by cavalry. It was in the shape of a coffee mill. Being no longer a weapon of war, its form is changed; it is made of silver or copper gilt, and ornamented with a crown, globe and cross.
A leaden mace,
A heavy iron mace.

MACE

,
Noun.
[L. macis.] A spice; the second coat which covers the nutmeg, a thin and membranaceous substance of an oleaginous nature and yellowish color, being in flakes divided into many ramifications; it is extremely fragrant and aromatic.

Definition 2024


Mace

Mace

See also: mace, macé, Mače, and mące

English

Proper noun

Mace

  1. Alternative letter-case form of mace (tear gas or pepper spray)

Anagrams

mace

mace

See also: Mace, macé, Mače, and mące

English

mace (weapon)
A drum major carrying a mace (5).

Noun

mace (plural maces)

  1. A heavy fighting club.
    • 1786, The Mace is an ancient weapon, formerly much used by cavalry of all nations, and likewise by ecclesiastics, who in consequence of their tenures, frequently took the field, but were by a canon of the church forbidden to wield the sword. Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 51.
  2. A ceremonial form of this weapon.
    • 1598, I am a king that find thee; and I know 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball, The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, The intertissued robe of gold and pearl... William Shakespeare, Henvry V, Act IV, Scene I, line 259.
  3. A long baton used by some drum majors to keep time and lead a marching band. If this baton is referred to as a mace, by convention it has a ceremonial often decorative head, which, if of metal, usually is hollow and sometimes intricately worked.
  4. An officer who carries a mace as an emblem of authority.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Macaulay to this entry?)
  5. A knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it supple.
  6. (archaic) A billiard cue.
Translations

Verb

mace (third-person singular simple present maces, present participle macing, simple past and past participle maced)

  1. To hit someone or something with a mace.
See also

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Javanese [Term?] and Malay, meaning "a bean".

Noun

mace (plural maces)

  1. An old money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael.
  2. An old weight of 57.98 grains.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of S. W. Williams to this entry?)

Etymology 3

From Middle English, from re-interpretation of macis as a plural (compare pea); ultimately from Latin maccis (name of an unidentified spice).

Noun

mace (plural maces)

  1. A spice obtained from the outer layer of the kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg.
    • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene III, line 45.
      I must have saffron to color the warden pies; mace; dates, none -- that's out of my note; nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I may beg; four pounds of prunes, and as many of raisins o' th' sun.
Translations

Etymology 4

From the name of one brand of the spray, Mace.

Noun

mace (plural maces)

  1. Tear gas or pepper spray, especially for personal use.
Translations

Verb

mace (third-person singular simple present maces, present participle macing, simple past and past participle maced)

  1. To spray in defense or attack with mace (pepper spray or tear gas) using a hand-held device.
  2. (informal) To spray a similar noxious chemical in defense or attack using an available hand-held device such as an aerosol spray can.
    • 1989, Carl Hiaasen, Skin Tight, Ballantine Books, New York, chapter 22:
      When Reynaldo and Willie had burst into Larkey's drug store to confront him, the old man had maced Willie square in the eyes with an aerosol can of spermicidal birth-control foam.

References

Anagrams


Albanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /matsɛ/

Noun

mace f

  1. cat

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.


Old French

Etymology 1

From Late Latin mattia or *mattea (cf. mateola), from Proto-Indo-European *mat (hoe, plow).

Noun

mace f (oblique plural maces, nominative singular mace, nominative plural maces)

  1. mace (weapon)
Descendants

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin maccis (name of an unidentified spice).

Noun

mace f (oblique plural maces, nominative singular mace, nominative plural maces)

  1. mace (spice)

References


Spanish

Verb

mace

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of mazar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of mazar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of mazar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of mazar.

Taraon

Pronunciation

  • (Darang Deng) IPA(key): /mɑ³¹tɕi⁵³/

Etymology

Compare Idu माची

Noun

mace

  1. water

References

  • Roger Blench, Mark Post, (De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconstructing the evidence (2011) (as macey)
  • Jatan Pulu, A Phrase Book on Taraon Language (1991) (as mace or in running text often macẽ)
  • Huang Bufan (editor), Xu Shouchun, Chen Jiaying, Wan Huiyin, A Tibeto-Burman Lexicon (1992; Central Minorities University, Beijing)