mayorlet 
mayorlet (ma'or-let), . [< mayor + -let.] A 
potty mayor. "I'arlyle. [Kare.] 
mayorship (ma'or-ship), w. [Formerly mair- 
ship, mayreship; "< mayor + -ship.'] The office 
or dignity of a mayor. 
That the Mayre of London, whiles he were Mayre, haue 
none other offyce to the cite belonging than the offyce of 
the mayreship of the same. Arnold's Chronicle, p. 4. 
May-pole (ma'pol), n. 1 . A pole around which 
the people dance in May-day festivities. It was 
usually cut and set up afresh on May-day morning, drawn 
year, as notably the famous pole of the parish of St. An- 
drew Undershaft in London, which was cut down in the 
reign of Edward VI. At the restoration of Charles II. a 
Hay-pole 134 feet high was set up in the Strand. A few 
May-poles still remain in England, although the celebra- 
tion is almost obsolete. 
Their chief est jewel they bring from thence is the Mate- 
pole, which they bring home with great veneration, as 
thus they have twentie or fourtie yoake of oxen, every 
oxe having a sweete nosegaie of flowers tied to the tip of 
his homes, and these oxen drawe home the May-poale. 
Stubbei, quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 455. 
2. An ale-stake. Halliwett. [Prov. Eng.] 3. 
A tree of Jamaica, Spathelia simplex, of the 
order Simarubeai. It has a tall slender stem with a 
crown of leaves at the top, like a palm. Also called 
mountain-pride and mountain-green. 
may-pop (ma'pop), n. The passion-flower, or 
its fruit ; properly, the fruit of Passiflora in- 
carnata, which is of the size of a hen's egg 
and edible. [Southern U. S.] 
May-queen (ma'kwen), n. A girl or young wo- 
man crowned with flowers and honored as 
queen at the games held on May-day. 
may-skate (ma'skat), . Same as mavis-skate. 
may-SUCker (ma'suk"er), n. The harelipped 
sucker, Quassilabia lacera. [Local, U. 8.] 
maytliorn (ma'thorn), n. [< May* + thorn.] 
The hawthorn: so called to distinguish it from 
the earlier flowering blackthorn. See May*, 3. 
The mayUiorn and its scent. Mrs. Browning. 
May-time (ma'tim), n. [< ME. may Ume; < May* 
+ time 1 .] May; the season of May. 
Alle freliche foules that on that frith aonge, 
for merthe of that may time the! made moche noyce. 
William, of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 822. 
They . . . (for the time 
Was mat/time, and as yet no sin was dream'd) 
Rode under groves that look'd a paradise. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
mayweed (ma'wed), n. [Early mod. E. mate- 
weed; a var., simulating May*, of maytheweed.] 
A composite plant, Anthemis Cotula, a common 
weed throughout Europe and Asiatic Russia, 
and, by naturalization, in America. It is a branch- 
ing annual a foot or two high, the leaves finely divided, 
and the flower-heads having a yellow disk and white rays. 
The foliage is pungently ill-scented, and is said to blister 
the hands. It has been used as an emmenagogue and anti- 
spasmodic. Other names are doy's-camomiie, dog'g-fennel, 
stinking camomile; also Balder-brae, buphthalmum, dill- 
tveed. See particularly Anthemis and Cotula. 
maywort (ma'wert), n. A kind of bedstraw, 
Galium cruciatum, blooming in May. Also call- 
ed erosswort. 
Mazagan (maz'a-gan), n. [From Mazagan, a 
town in Morocco, near which it grows wild.] 
A small and early variety of bean, Vicia Faba, 
known in America, in common with the larger 
and later Windsor variety, as the English bean. 
mazame (ma-zam'),K. [<.Ti/iex.mazame,mac.ame, 
teuthlamagame (Hernandez), the pronghorn.] 
1. The North American pronghorn, Antilocapra 
americana. See cut under Antilocapra. 2. 
The pampas-deer of South America, Cariacus 
campestris. 
mazapilite (maz'a-pil-it), n. [< Mazapil (see 
def.) + -ite 2 .] An arseniate of calcium and 
iron, closely related to arseniosiderite. It oc- 
curs in nearly black prismatic crystals in the 
district of Mazapil, Mexico. 
mazard (maz'ard), n. [Also mazzard; a var. 
(with accom. term, -ard) of mazer. The second 
sense is figurative, the head being often humor- 
ously compared to a bowl or goblet.] If. A 
bowl; a mazer. 
They . . . drank good ale In a brown mazard. 
Aubrey, Misc., p. 213. (Dames.) 
An instance of this occurs in connexion with St. Ed- 
mund's Church at Salisbury, " where they have digged up 
an old bishop out of his grave, and have made a mazzard 
of his scull, and his bones are in an apothecaryes shop." 
Athenteum, No. 3071, p. 303. 
2f. The head; the skull. 
Chapless, and knocked about the mazzard with a sex- 
ton's spade. Shale., Hamlet, v. 1. 97. 
I had a mazzard, I remember, so well lined in the in- 
side with my brain, it stood me in better stead than a 
double headpiece. Middleton, Father Hubbard's Tales, 
3670 
3. A wild cherry of Europe. See cherryl, n., 1, 
and gean. 
Red quarrenders and mazard cherries. 
Kingsley, Westward Ho, i. 
mazardt (maz'ard), v. t. [< mazard, n. Cf . jowl, 
i-., knock, as related to jowl, n., cheek, jaw.] To 
kill or stun by a blow on the skull ; brain. 
The wooden rogues let a huge trap-door fall on my head. 
If I had not been a spirit, I had been mazarded. 
B. Jonson, Love Restored. 
mazard-bowl (maz'ard-bol), . Same as maz- 
ard, 1. 
A Mazard-bowl of maple-wood full of beer. 
Quoted in Elton's Origins of Eng. Hist., p. 182. 
mazarin't, See mazerin. 
mazarin 2 , n. and . See mazarine. 
mazarinade (maz-a-ri-nad'), [< P- mazari- 
nade; as Mazarin (see def.) + -ade 1 .] In 
French hist., one of the pamphlets, satires, 
songs, or lampoons directed against Cardinal 
Mazarin (1602-61), prime minister of France, 
during the wars of the Fronde. 
Mazarin Bible. See Bible. 
mazarine (maz-a-ren'), n. [Also mazarin; <F. 
mazarine (?), named after Cardinal Mazarin.'] 
1. Same as mazarine-blue. 
The sky up above was a bright mazarine, 
Just as though no such thing as a tempest had been. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 295. 
2f. A blue gown worn by common-councilmen. 
Bring my silver'd mazarine. 
Anstey, New Bath Guide, ix. (Dames.) 
mazarine (maz-a-ren'), v. t.; pret. and pp. maza- 
rined, ppr. mazarining. [Cf. mazarine, n.] To 
decorate with lace in a special manner ; edge, 
as with campane lace. 
Three yards of lace to mazarin ye pinners at 25 shillings. 
An Inventory (1694). 
mazarine-blue (maz-a-ren'blo), n. A rich blue 
color. 
It is true our gowns of mazarine Mue, edged with fur, 
cut a pretty figure enough. 
Goldsmith, From a Common-Councilman. 
Mazarin-hood, n. A hood or cap decorated 
with lace and forming a fashionable head-dress 
about 1720. See mazarine. 
Mazdean (maz'de-an), a. [< Mazda (see quot. 
under Mazdeism)' (Ahura Mazda or Ortmtzd) + 
-ean.] Of or pertaining to Mazdeism. 
Mazdeism (maz'de-izm),w. [Mazde(an) + -ism.] 
The ancient religion of Persia ; Zoroastrianism. 
Mazdeism, as we call the Persian religion, from its su- 
preme god, Ahura Mazda, was not the growth of a day, 
nor the work of one man. Faiths of the World, p. 95. 
maze 1 (maz), i:; pret. and pp. mazed, ppr. maz- 
ing. [Early mod. E. mase; < ME. masen (also in 
comp. amasen, bemasen: see amaze, bemaze); 
prob. < Norw. masa, pore over a thing, refl. ma- 
sast, begin to dream, = Sw. dial, masa, be lazy, 
lounge,bask in the sun; prob. the same (through 
the senses ' be idle, talk idly ') as Norw. masa = 
Icel. masa, chatter, prattle. The E. maze is not 
"connected with AS. mase, a whirlpool," for 
the reason, among others, that there is no such 
word.] I. trans. To confuse; bewilder; amaze; 
especially, to confuse by intricacy. 
A little herd of England's timorous deer 
Maz'd with a yelping kennel of French curs. 
Shak., IHen. VI., iv. 2.47. 
Why art thou mazed to see me thus revived? 
B. Jimson, Volpone, iii. 6. 
The fellow looks as he were mazed, methinks. 
Scott, Kenilworth, xvii. 
Il.t intrans. 1. To be bewildered, perplexed, 
or puzzled. 
"Ye maze, ye maze, goode sire," quod she, 
"This thank have I for I have maad you see." 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 1141. 
2. To wind intricately. 
Like as molten Lead, being poured forth 
Vpon a leuell plot of sand or earth, 
In many fashions mazeth to and fro. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. 
maze 1 (maz), n. [Early mod. E. mase; < ME. 
maze, mase; from the verb.] 1. Confusion of 
thought; perplexity; uncertainty; bewilder- 
ment. 
They lose themselves in the very maze of their own dis- 
courses. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 2. 
2f. Anything intended to confuse or mislead; 
a snare ; a deception. 
But walaway, al this nas but a maze : 
Fortune his howve entended bet to glaze. 
Chaucer, Troilus, v. 468. 
3f. A wild fancy; a confused notion ; an error. 
Men dreme al day of owles and of apes, 
And eek of many a mase therwithal. 
Chawer, Nun's Priest's Tale, L 273. 
mazerin 
Let no maze intrude 
Upon your spirits. 
Mansion and Webster, Malcontent, iv. 5. 
4. A baffling and confusing network of paths or 
passages ; a labyrinth : as, the maze of Hamp- 
ton Court in England; a winding and turning ; 
hence, a perplexed or embarrassing state of 
things; intricate disorder; entanglement: as, 
he found affairs all in a maze. 
The quaint mazes in the wanton green. 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 1. 99. 
To pry into the maze of his counsels is not only folly in 
man, but presumption even in angels. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. 13. 
Others . . . reason'd high, . . . 
And found no end, in wandering mazes lost. 
Milton, P. L., ii. 561. 
Varied tints all fused in one 
Great mass of color, like a maze 
Of flowers illumined by the sun. 
Longfellow, Keramos. 
5f. Wonder ; matter of wonder or curiosity. 
Go thou not into the toun as it were a gase 
From oon hous to another for to seke the mase. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.X p. 39. 
maze 2 (maz), n. A variant of mease^, 1. 
mazednesst (ma'zed-nes), n. [< ME. mased- 
nesse, < mazed, pp., + -ness.] The condition of 
being mazed ; confusion ; astonishment. 
She ferde as she had stert out of a slepe 
Til she out of hir masednesse abreyde. 
Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 1005. 
mazefult (maz 'ful), a. [< mase 1 , n., + -ful.] 
Causing amazement; wonderful. Spenser, Epi- 
thalamion, 1. 190. 
mazelint, Same as monlin*. 
mazer (ma'zer), n. [Early mod. E. also maser; 
< ME. maser, masere, a bowl, orig. of maple- 
wood, prob. not < AS. *mceser, *maser, maple 
(or other spotted or mottled wood), which is 
found only in deriv. adj. *ma;seren, occurring 
once erroneously written mwsen ("vi. mcesene 
sceala," ' 6 maple vessels '), and perhaps in comp. 
Maserfeld, a local name, but from the cognate 
Icel. mosurr, a maple-tree, maple-wood (mo- 
surr-bolli, a maple bowl, mosurr-slcdl, a maple 
vessel : see skoal), = MLG. maser, a maple-tree, 
= OHG. masar, MHG. G. maser, a knur or knob 
on a tree, a knot or spot in maple and other 
wood, MHG. also a bowl of spotted or mottled 
wood (> OF. mazre, madre, spotted or mot- 
tled wood (> OF. (and F.) madre, spotted, mot- 
tled), and mazerin, a drinking-vessel : see 
mazerin) ; from the noun seen in OD. *mase, 
masche, maesche = MLG. mase = OHG. masa, 
MHG. mase, G. mase, a spot, whence also ult. 
E. measles.] If. Hard mottled wood, under- 
stood to be maple, formerly used in making 
the bowls or goblets hence called mazers. 
Off lanycolle thou shall prove, 
That is a cuppe to my behove, 
Off maser it is ful clene. 
MS. Cantab. Ff. v. 48, f. 50. (HalKwell.) 
2. A bowl or large drinking-cup without a foot, 
of maple or other hard wood, and often richly 
decorated with carving and mounted with silver 
or other metal. In later use the term was applied to 
bowls entirely of metal. A number of mazers are pre- 
served in England, dating from different epochs from the 
thirteenth to the eighteenth century. 
They toke away the sylver vessell, 
And all that they myght get, 
Peces, masars, and spones 
Wolde they non forgete. 
Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode (Child's Ballads, V. 75). 
Then loe, Perigot, the Pledge which I plight, 
A mazer ywrought of the Maple warre. 
Spenser, Shep. Cal. , August. 
They powre wine into a great bowle, . . . and then dip 
in that bowle or mazer a sword. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 396. 
In the wardrobe above they shew'd us fine wrought plate, 
porcelan, mazers of beaten and solid gold set with dia- 
monds, rubies, and emeralds. Evelyn, Diary, Jan. 25, 1645. 
3f. The head; the skull or brain-box: same as 
mazard, 2. 
Are thy mad brains in thy mazer? Ford, Fancies, Iv. 1. 
mazer-disht (ma'zer-dish), n. A mazer, or other 
dish made of maple. 
There was neither mazer-dish nor standing-cup upon 
the little table, at the elbow of his [the abbot's] huge chak 
of state. Scott, Monastery. 
mazerint, mazerinet (maz'e-rin), n. [Also 
mazarin; ME., < OF. mazerin, mazclin, madelin, 
maderin (ML. scyphus mazerinus), a drinMng- 
bowl of wood, < 'mazre, madre, spotted wood: 
see mazer.'] A drinking-vessel ; a porringer. 
One ol Her Majesty's Knurl'd Dishes, weight 62 Ounces, 
and one Silver Mazerine, Weight 20 Ounces, both engrav'd 
with His late Majesty's Arms. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, 
[I. 183. 
