n. The dress or disguise of a masker; masquerade. [ Obs. ] Marston. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Masteries [ OF. maistrie. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority. [ 1913 Webster ]

If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Superiority in war or competition; victory; triumph; preeminence. [ 1913 Webster ]

The voice of them that shout for mastery. Ex. xxxii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. 1 Cor. ix. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, but to have gulled him
Had been a mastery. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Contest for superiority. [ Obs. ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A masterly operation; a feat. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I will do a maistrie ere I go. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Specifically, the philosopher's stone. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The act process of mastering; the state of having mastered. [ 1913 Webster ]

He could attain to a mastery in all languages. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]