Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “masterful” come from?

Masterful derives from English master, from French masse, from Latin massa meaning lump or bulk, ultimately from Latin magnus meaning great.

masterful (English): Of or pertaining to the manner of a "master" of...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the manner of a "master" of...

Ancestry of “masterful”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-fulUsed to form adjectives from nouns. Full of,...
2Middle English-fulAppended to nouns to form adjectives denoting...
3Old English-fulfull of; -ful
4Proto-Germanic-fullaz-ful
5Proto-Germanicfullazfull; the whole, the entire
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpl̥h₁nósfull
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “masterful”

  • masterfully
  • masterfulness
  • unmasterful
  • unmasterfully
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →