Where does “masquerade” come from?
Masquerade comes from Middle French masquerade, a festive gathering or costume ball of unknown ultimate origin.
masquerade (English): An assembly or party of people wearing masks and...
Definitions
- An assembly or party of people wearing masks and...
Ancestry of “masquerade”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | mascarade | — |
| 2 | Italian | mascherata | masquerade; feminine singular of mascherato |
| 3 | Italian | maschera | mask; surface, fiction; cinema attendant |
| 4 | Latin | masca | witch, hag; spectre; nightmare; mask |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *maskā | mesh, net |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | maskwǭ | loop, knot; mesh, netting; mesh used as a filter,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mozgo- | netting, mesh, knot, loop |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | mezgʷ- | to knit, tie, make a loop; to knit, tie; to knit,... |