Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Mace |
MaceNoun1. (trademark) a liquid that temporarily disables a person; prepared as an aerosol and sprayed in the face, it irritates the eyes and causes dizziness and immobilization. 2. An official who carries a mace of office. 3. Spice made from the dried fleshy covering of the nutmeg seed. 4. A ceremonial staff carried as a symbol of office or authority. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "Mace" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | MACE, n. A staff of office signifying authority. Its form, that of a heavy club, indicates its original purpose and use in dissuading from dissent. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Computing | MACE A concurrent object-oriented language. Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. |
Food & Agriculture | Membraneous envelope of the nutmeg. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Mace Originally a club armed with iron, and used in war. Both sword and mace are ensigns of dignity, suited to the times when men went about in armour, and sovereigns needed champions to vindicate their rights. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The ceremonial mace derives from the mace used as a weapon.The earliest ceremonial maces, as they afterwards became, though at first intended to protect the king's person, appear as those borne by the serjeants-at-arms, a royal body-guard established in France by Philip II, and in England probably by Richard I. By the 14th century a tendency towards a more decorative serjeant's mace; encased with precious metals, becomes noticeable.
The history of the civic mace (carried by the serjeants-at-arms) begins about the middle of the 13th century, though no examples of that period remain today. Contemporaries considered ornamented civic maces an infringement of one of the privileges of the king's serjeants, who, according to a Commons petition of 1344, alone deserved to bear maces enriched with costly metals. However, the serjeants of London gained this privilege, as did later those of York (1396), of Norwich (1403/4) and of Chester (1506). Records exist of maces covered with silver in use at Exeter in 1387/8; Norwich bought two in 1435, and Launceston others in 1467/8. Several other cities and towns acquired silver maces subsequently, and the 16th century saw almost universal use.
Early in the 15th century the flanged end of the mace (i.e. the head of the war mace) was carried uppermost, with the small button with the royal arms in the base. By the beginning of the Tudor period, however, these blade-like flanges, originally made for offence, degenerated into mere ornaments, while the greater importance of the end with the royal arms (afterwards enriched with a cresting) resulted in the reversal of the position. The custom of carrying the flanged end upward did not die out at once: a few maces were made to carry both ways, such as the beautiful pair of Winchcombe silver maces, dating from the end of the 15th century. The Guildford mace provides one of the finest of the fifteen specimens of the 15th century.
Craftsmen often pierced and decorated the flanged ends of the maces of this period beautifully. These flanges gradually became smaller, and later (in the 16th and early 17th centuries) developed into pretty projecting scroll-brackets and other ornaments, which remained in vogue till about 1640. The next development in the embellishment of the shaft was the reappearance of these small scroll-brackets on the top, immediately under the head of the mace. They disappear altogether from the foot in the last half of the 17th century, and remain only under the heads, or, in rarer instances, on a knob on the shaft. The silver mace-heads were mostly plain, with a cresting of leaves or flowers in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the reign of James I they began to be engraved and decorated with heraldic devices, etc.
As the custom of having serjeants' maces ceased (about 1650), the large maces, borne before the mayor or bailiffs, came into general use. Thomas Maundy functioned as the chief maker of maces during the Commonwealth. He made the mace for the House of Commons in 1649, which is the one at present in use there, though without the original head with the non-regal symbols, the latter having been replaced by one with regal symbols at the Restoration.
The House of Lords has two maces, the earliest dating from the reign of William III.
The dates of the eight large and massive silver-gilt maces of the serjeants-at-arms, kept in the jewel-house at the Tower of London, are as follows: two of Charles II, two of James II, three of William and Mary, and one of Queen Anne (the cypher of George I of Great Britain was subsequently added to the latter). All the foregoing are of the type which was almost universally adopted, with slight differences, at the Restoration.
The civic maces of the 18th century follow this type, with some modifications in shape and ornamentation. The historic English silver maces of the 18th century include the one of 1753 at Norfolk, Virginia, and that of 1756 of the state of South Carolina, both in the United States of America; two, made in 1753 and 1787, in Jamaica; that of 1791 belonging to the colony of Grenada, and the Speaker's mace at Barbados, dating from 1812; and the silver mace of the old Irish House of Commons, 1765/1766 (now displayed in the old Irish House of Lords Chamber in the old Parliament House in Dublin).
Among other maces, more correctly described as staves, in use today, are those carried before ecclesiastical dignitaries and clergy in cathedrals and parish churches and the maces of the universities. At Oxford there are three dating from the second half of the 16th century and six from 1723/1724, while at Cambridge there are three of 1626 and one of 1628 (but altered during the Commonwealth and again at the Restoration).
The silver mace with crystal globe of the lord high treasurer of Scotland, at Holyrood Palace, was made about 1690 by Francis Garthorne.
The remarkable mace or sceptre of the Lord Mayor of London comprises crystal and gold set with pearls; the head dates from the 15th century, while the mounts of the shaft are early medieval.
A mace of an unusual form is that of the Tower Ward of London, which has a head resembling the White Tower in the Tower of London, and which was made in the reign of Charles II.
The beautiful mace of the Cork gilds, made by Robert Goble of Cork in 1696 for the associated gilds, of which he had been master, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which also has a large silver mace of the middle of the 18th century, with the arms of Pope Benedict XIV, said to have been used at the coronation of Napoleon as king of Italy at Milan in 1805.
Original text from http://1911encyclopedia.org
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Ceremonial mace."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
(Weapon) An advance on the club, a mace is a wooden, metal-reinforced or metal shaft, 3 or more feet (a meter or more) long, with a head made of iron or steel adding another foot to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) to the length of the weapon. The head is normally about or slightly thicker than the diameter of the shaft, shaped with flanges, knobs or spikes to allow greater penetration of armour. It, like the war hammer and various other weapons of the time, came about because of the increased use of more effective armour on the battlefield.
A variety of mace called the morning star had its spiked metal ball suspended from a chain attached to the handle, rather than being directly mounted.
Medieval bishops carried maces in battle (Odo of Bayeux appears on the Bayeux tapestry wielding one) instead of swords, so as to conform to the canonical rule which forbade priests to shed blood.
(Symbol) A ceremonial mace can represent authority and prestige, as in the House of Commons in a Westminster System parliament. Processions often feature such maces: either on parliamentary or in formal university occasions. The ecclesiatical equivalent of the mace-bearer, the dodsman, appears in church contexts.
(Spice) Mace is also a cooking spice obtained from the arillus (a layer surrounding the seed kernel) of the nutmeg fruit Myristica fragrans Houtt.
Mace is also a brand of tear gas, often used by police.
There is a 1990s rapper named Mase.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mace."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
MACE | English | Management Construction and Engineering | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: MaceSynonyms: macebearer (n), macer (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Arms | Pike, lance, spear, spontoon, javelin, dart, jereed, jerid, arrow, reed, shaft, bolt, boomerang, harpoon, gaff; eelspear, oxgoad, weet-weet, wommerah; cattle prod; chemical mace. |
Club, mace, truncheon, staff, bludgeon, cudgel, life preserver, shillelah, sprig; hand staff, quarter staff; bat, cane, stick, knuckle duster; billy, blackjack, sandbag, waddy. | |
Condiment | Nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, fennel. |
Jurisdiction | Officer, bailiff, tipstaff, bum-bailiff, catchpoll, beadle; policeman, cop, police constable, police sergeant; sbirro, alguazil, gendarme, kavass, lictor, mace bearer, huissier, bedel;officer, bailiff, tipstaff, bum-bailiff, catchpoll, beadle; policeman, cop, police constable, police sergeant; sbirro, alguazil, gendarme, kavass, lictor, mace bearer, huissier, bedel; tithingman. |
Scepter | Noun: scepter, regalia, caduceus; Mercury's rod, Mercury's staff, Mercury's wand; rod of empire, mace, fasces, wand; staff, staff of office; baton, truncheon; flag; (insignia); ensign of authority, emblem of authority, badge of authority, insignia of authority. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Mace |
| English words defined with "Mace": Arillus ♦ Club-rush ♦ mace bearer, macebearer, macer, Myristica fragrans ♦ nutmeg, nutmeg tree ♦ Tridented. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "Mace": Blue Billy ♦ Giants ♦ Mugello ♦ Pokers ♦ Rouen ♦ scepter. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "Mace": Tridented. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Mace" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Albanian (cat, grimalkin, puss, pussy, pussycat), Hawaiian (cat). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | That's not mace. It's pepper spray (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory; writing credit: Richard Hatem) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Sceptre and the Mace (1957) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Man in medieval livery with slashed sleeves holding mace. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Black man with ceremonial mace and letter I. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Grenada | Agriculture: Products--nutmeg, mace, cocoa, bananas, other fruits, vegetables. (references) |
Grenada | The economy of Grenada is based upon agricultural production (nutmeg, mace, cocoa, and bananas) and tourism. (references) | |
Grenada | Trade (1999): Merchandise exports--US$54.5 million: nutmeg, mace, cocoa, bananas, other fruits, vegetables, fish. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SCEPTER, n. A king's staff of office, the sign and symbol of his authority. It was originally a mace with which the sovereign admonished his jester and vetoed ministerial measures by breaking the bones of their proponents. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Mace" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 70.13% of the time. "Mace" is used about 154 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 70.13% | 108 | 31,306 |
| Noun (singular) | 27.92% | 43 | 52,181 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 1.95% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 154 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "Mace" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Mace | Last name | 4,000 | 2,874 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name |
| USA | Mace Security International, Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "Mace": Chemical Mace ♦ mace bearer ♦ red mace ♦ reed mace ♦ white mace. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "Mace": Mace-bearer, mace-bearers, mace-like. | |
Ending with "Mace": Reed-mace, sergeant-at-mace, sergeants-at-mace, serjeant-at-mace. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "Mace"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | Topuz (cudgel), Skeptër (baton, scepter, sceptre, truncheon, wand), Arrëmyshk (nutmeg), Çomange. (various references) | |
Arabic | قضيب (bar, baton, draw-bar, penis, phallus, pointer, rail, rod, shaft, staff, stem, stick, switch, wand), قشرة جوزة الطيب, حامل الصولجان (drum major, verger), توابل (flavor, flavoring, flavour, flavouring, relish, seasoning), صولجان (rod, scepter, sceptre, verge, wand). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | Жезъл, 'ид Щека, Боздуган, Индийско Орехче, Сушена Кора От Индийско Орехче. (various references) | |
Chinese | '头". (various references) | |
Czech | Muškátový Kvìt, Palice (club, cudgel, skull), Žezlo. (various references) | |
Danish | muskatblomme. (various references) | |
Dutch | foelie (foil, sheet). (various references) | |
Farsi | فریب (Abusive, Cheat, Deceit, Deception, Defraud, Delusion, Fiction, Humbug, Intake, Jazz, Lurch, Lure, Seducement, Sophistry, Swindle, Temptation, Wile), پوست جوز, چماق زدن (Cudgel), چماق (Bat, Bludgeon, Cudgel, Maul, Stave, Stick), کوپال , گل جوز, گول زدنی , راف . (various references) | |
Finnish | muskotti (nutmeg, nutmeg-tree). (various references) | |
French | Macis. (various references) | |
German | Muskatblüte. (various references) | |
Greek | όοσχοκάρυο, μασίς, περίβλημα μοσχοκάρυδου, Σκήπτρο, Ρόπαλο (Billy). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ־וסקטית ִריח ית, ־רסס ִ' ", רביט. (various references) | |
Hungarian | szerecsendió (nutmeg), jogar (poker, scepter, sceptre), buzogány (indian club, maul). (various references) | |
Indonesian | tongkat kebesaran, penggodam (club), fuli. (various references) | |
Italian | mazza (bat, bludgeon, club, mallet, sledge hammer). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | メール交換 (10^6, correspondence, exchange of letters, mail, mail order, mailer, mailing, mailing list, main, main amp, main bank, main course, main culture, main event, main gate, main pole, main stand, main street, main table, main title, mainframe, main-memory, make, make-up, mate, mechanic, mechanical, mechanical automation, mechanics, mechanism, mechatronics, mega-, mega trend, megacycle, megaton, MT). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | メイス . (various references) | |
Manx | maais. (various references) | |
Norwegian | septer. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | acemay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | macis, maçã (apple), taco (club, dowel, golf club, peg, plug, stick), flor de noz-moscada, clava (bludgeon, club, cudgel), cetro (scepter, sceptre, wand), bedel (apparitor, beadle, bedel, serjeant-at-arms, verger), bastão (bat, baton, billy, cane, mallet, rod, staff, stick, wand). (various references) | |
Romanian | Nucşoarã (nutmeg), Ghioagã (hurlbat), Buzdugan (scepter, sceptre), Baston (bat, baton, cane, cudgel, rod, staff, stave, stick, walking stick). (various references) | |
Russian | Мускатный Орех, Мазик, Жезл, булава;мускатный цвет, "еревянный Молоток, Булава. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | topuz, buzdovan, žezlo (scepter, sceptre). (various references) | |
Spanish | maza (bludgeon), Macis. (various references) | |
Swedish | spira (germinate, sceptre, spire, sprout, steeple), spikklubba (datura, jimsonweed, thorn apple). (various references) | |
Thai | คทา (scepter, sceptre). (various references) | |
Turkish | Topuz (bun, knob, pommel, topknot, upsweep), Tören Sopası, Küçük Hindistan Cevizi Kabuğu, Gürz (iron club), Gözyaşartıcı Bomba Sıvısı. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | Жезл, "ерев'яний Молоток, Булава. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | gậy quyền (scepter, sceptre). (various references) | |
Welsh | byrllysg (baton). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | middu, rig, ita. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | mateola, MYRISTICA FRAGRANS, Myristica fragrans houtt. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | vazrât. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | mace. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "Mace": maced, macedoine, macedoines, macer, macerate, macerated, macerates, macerating, maceration, macerations, macerator, macerators, macers, maces. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "Mace": grimace, pomace. (additional references) | |
Words containing "Mace": amphimacer, amphimacers, diatomaceous, grimaced, grimacer, grimacers, grimaces, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutically, pharmaceuticals, pomaceous, pomaces, radiopharmaceutical, radiopharmaceuticals, spermaceti, spermacetis. (additional references) | |
| |
"Mace" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: amc, Amca, amcee, amke, amoce, Dmac, gmac, imac, jace, kace, mabe, Maca, macab, macac, Macam, macan, macau, macc, macca, maccah, Maccam, macd, maced, Macek, Maceo, Macer, macey, Macg, mache, Machej, Machevo, macid, Macie, Maciel, Maciet, Macii, Mackee, Macnee, Macr, macre, macs, mact, Mactec, macu, Macve, Macvey, Madc, mae, mafc, mafe, maice, maje, mak, maka, makee, maken, maket, Makey, maki, maku, mame, mase, masi, Mave, mawe, maxe, maxee, maxexp, maxey, mayse, m'car, mcas, Mcatee, mcd, mci, mco, mcse, mcu, meace, Meca, mece, Meche, meci, meco, meke, meku, metce, Mgac, Mgco, mic, micel, micet, Miche, micke, micy, miky, moac, moce, moci, mocz, mpcu, mrake, Mrcpe, msc, Muci, Muco, Mwco, myce, myci, Naca, Nacae, nace, naci, nacue, smace, umac. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "Mace" (pronounced mā"s) |
| 2 | -ā" s | Ace, apace, base, brace, case, chase, dace, debase, deface, disgrace, displace, efface, embrace, encase, erase, face, glace, grace, incase, interlace, lace, misplace, pace, place, race, replace, retrace, space, trace, vase. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: acme, came. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-m" | |
-1 letter: ace, cam, mac, mae. | |
-2 letters: ae, am, em, ma, me. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-m" | |
+1 letter: acmes, amice, camel, cameo, cames, comae, cream, cymae, maced, macer, maces, mache, macle, mecca. | |
+2 letters: acetum, acumen, aecium, almuce, amebic, amerce, amices, anemic, becalm, became, cabmen, caecum, caeoma, calmed, calmer, camber, camels, cameos, camera, camise, camlet, camped, camper, carmen, cinema, comade, comake, comate, crambe, creams, creamy, decamp, eczema, encamp, haemic, iceman, macers, maches, mackle, macled, macles, macule, malice, manche, marcel, meccas, menace, mescal, mezcal, muscae, pomace, raceme, sachem, samech, schema, scream. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Names: Company Usage 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Abbreviations | 17. Acronyms 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
