mace
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mace¹
- /meɪs/
Rhymes with -eɪs
Where it comes from
From Middle English mace, borrowed from Old French mace, mache, from Vulgar Latin *mattia, *mattea, matia, (compare Italian mazza, Spanish maza), probably from Proto-West Germanic *mattjō (“cutting tool, hoe”).
noun maces
- A heavy fighting club. 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.
- A ceremonial form of this weapon. 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
- 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.
- An officer who carries a mace as a token of authority. On the left were the Commons with their Speaker, attended by the mace. The southern door opened: and the Prince and Princess of Orange, side by side, entered, and took their place under the canopy of state.
- A knobbed mallet used by curriers to make leather supple when dressing it. In the foreground one man uses the "head knife” to work over the skin on the beam, while another softens a skin with the currier's mace.
- A flail.
- A billiard cue.
verb maces · macing · maced
- To hit someone or something with a mace.
mace²
- /meɪs/
Rhymes with -eɪs
Where it comes from
From Middle English, from re-interpretation of macys as a plural (as with pea); from Latin macir. Doublet of macir.
noun
- A spice obtained from the outer layer of the kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg. 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.
mace³
- /meɪs/
Rhymes with -eɪs
Where it comes from
From the name of one brand of the spray, Mace. Pepper spray may be derived from cayenne pepper, but not from mace (etymology 2 above), which is a different spice; rather, it was named after the weapon (etymology 1).
noun maces
- Tear gas or pepper spray, especially for personal use. […] was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for shooting a man in the eye with a paintball gun, spraying people in the face with bear mace and aiming a loaded handgun at a crowd, prosecutors said.
verb maces · macing · maced
- To spray in defense or attack with mace (pepper spray or tear gas) using a hand-held device. If a hooded stranger approached me in real life, I would mace him.
- To spray a similar noxious chemical in defense or attack using an available hand-held device such as an aerosol spray can. 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.
mace⁴
- /meɪs/
Rhymes with -eɪs
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Portuguese maz, from Malay mas (“gold”).
Mace⁵
- /meɪs/
Where it comes from
* As an English surname, from the personal name Masse, probably shortened from Matthew. Compare Massey, Massett.
* As a French and Breton surname, from Macé, vernacular form of Mathieu. Compare Maze.
* Also as a French surname, from Macé in Orne, from Late Latin Macciacum, from the personal name Maccius.
* Also as a French surname, variant of Massé; see Masse.
proper noun Maces
- Alternative letter-case form of mace (tear gas or pepper spray)
- A male given name, a name derived from the war instrument, a mace
- A surname. Prior to the House passing the legislation, only four Republicans had joined all Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote - Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
- An English surname transferred from the given name.
- A surname from Norman.
- An unincorporated community in Walnut Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States.
MACE⁶
noun MACEs
- Initialism of major adverse cardiovascular event
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: macer, macebearer, truncheon, baton, laundering, kara, gas, bomb, petrific, mass, weight, masses, club, sceptre, spice, mis
Translations
Every language
noun weapon
| Español | maza, maza de armas |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 메이스 meiseu |
| 日本語 | メイス meisu |
| 中文 | 錘 /锤 chuí |
| Português | maça |
| Français | masse, masse d'armes |
| Deutsch | Streitkolben |
| Italiano | mazza, mazza d'armi |
| Ελληνικά | απελατίκι apelatíki |
| Română | buzdugan |
| Русский | булава́ bulavá, па́лица pálica |
| العربية | دَبُّوس dabbūs |
| עברית | אלה |
noun ceremonial form of this weapon
| 日本語 | メイス meisu |
|---|---|
| Português | maça |
| Français | masse |
| Deutsch | Amtsstab |
| Italiano | mazza |
| Русский | жезл žezl |
noun a spice
| Español | macis |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 메이스 meiseu |
| 日本語 | メース meisu |
| 中文 | 肉豆蔻皮 ròudòukòu pí |
| हिन्दी | जावित्री jāvitrī, जावत्री jāvatrī |
| Português | macis |
| Français | macis |
| Deutsch | Macis, Muskatblüte |
| Italiano | macis |
| Ελληνικά | μασίς masís |
| Русский | ма́цис mácis, муска́тный цвет muskátnyj cvet |
| العربية | قِشْرَةُ جَوْزِ الطِيبِ qišratu jawzi ṭ-ṭībi, بَسْبَاس basbās |
noun tear gas and pepper spray
| 日本語 | メイス meisu |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Reizstoff |
| Русский | слезоточи́вый газ slezotočívyj gaz |
Talk about this word "mace." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mace. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. mace. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mace "mace." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mace.Cite this
@misc{mace_2026,
title = {mace},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mace},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
