SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

housemaster

noun house·mas·ter \ ˈhau̇s-ˌma-stər \

Definition of housemaster

: a master in charge of a house in a boy's boarding school

First Known Use of housemaster

1839

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up housemaster? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

garrulous

play

talkative or wordy

Words at Play

12 Words from All Over the Map

Some words say exactly where they're from

alt-5b032d1aef0e9

'Ingenious' and 'Ingenuous': More Than a Typo

One's clever, the other's like a child

alt-5b0310daaafde

A Matter-of-Fact Look at 'Deadpan'

Surely we can be serious.

9 Words from the Magical Realm

When language is magic

Ask the Editors

video-ghost-words

Ghost Word

The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'feminism'

video-literally

Literally

How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.

video-his-or-her

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

Word Games

Words Used by Nabokov Quiz

How familiar are you with Nabokov’s unfamiliar vocabulary?

Take the quiz

cow-coming-home

Farm Idioms Quiz

Not your children's farm quiz.

Take the quiz

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game