Master is a term that indicates a consummate level of skill, proficiency, superiority or power. The female equivalent (in limited use in modern times) is mistress. The term has a number of uses:
- Master was once a title used in England for men of fairly high rank, such as gentlemen, priests or scholars.
- A Master's degree is a graduate degree in a specified discipline from a college or university.
- A master craftsman is a person who has a larger skill than most in some kind of art.
- A master tradesman is a person who has a larger skill than most in the licensed trades, this is usually granted following instruction, testing and a period of practical experience.
- The Masters golf tournament is one of the most important in golf.
- The Masters Cup of disc golf is an annual event on the PDGA tour.
- The Masters is a snooker tournament.
- Tennis Masters Cup is a tennis tournament.
- In Korean martial arts, master is the title above black belt which allows the holder to operate a school (dojang). A higher rank is grandmaster.
- Master is a rank in international chess.
- A master unit is a mechanical or electronic unit which commands or controls another unit, so that they work in tandem or in parallel.
- A master was also another name for a slaveholder . See also slavery.
- In BDSM, a master is a man who takes a dominant role. The feminine equivalent is mistress or dominatrix.
- Master Aircrew is the highest non-commissioned rank held by aircrew in the Royal Air Force.
- master recording is the original of a visual and/or sound recording, which is then mixed and/or cut into a template from which distributable copies are made.
- The term Master Mariner has several meanings in a nautical context;
- A Schoolmaster once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.
- Master was once used for skilled (usually non-academic) instructors, as in Dance Master, Music Master, Fencing Master. This use is rare today but survives in maestro.
See The Master for the Doctor Who villain and other meanings.
