Editing Mask (section)

==Etymology==

[[File:MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg|thumb|right|The so-called '[[Mask of Agamemnon]]', a 16th-century BC mask discovered by [[Heinrich Schliemann]] in 1876 at [[Mycenae]], Greece, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]]]

The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from [[Middle French]] ''masque'' "covering to hide or guard the face", derived in turn from [[Italian language|Italian]] ''maschera'', from [[Medieval Latin]] ''masca'' "mask, specter, nightmare".<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.etymonline.com/word/mask#etymonline_v_9675 |title = mask (n.) | work = Online Etymology Dictionary | publisher = Douglas Harper | date=n.d.| access-date = 16 January 2021}}</ref> This word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''maskharah'' مَسْخَرَۃٌ "buffoon", from the verb ''sakhira'' "to ridicule".  However, it may also come from [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]] ''mascarar'' "to black (the face)" (or the related [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''mascarar'', [[Old French]] ''mascurer'').  This in turn is of uncertain origin – perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English "mesh", but perhaps from ''mask-'' "black", a borrowing from a [[Pre-Indo-European languages|pre-Indo-European]] language.<ref>{{cite book |last=von Wartburg |first=Walther |title=Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung galloromanischen sprachschatzes |publisher=Zbinden Druck und Verlag |year=1992 |isbn=978-2745309372 |volume= |location=Basel |page= |oclc=3488833}}</ref> One German author claims the word "mask" is originally derived from the Spanish ''más que la cara'' (literally, "more than the face" or "added face"), which evolved to "máscara", while the Arabic "maskharat" – referring to the buffoonery which is possible only by disguising the face – would be based on these Spanish roots.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kupferblum |first=Markus |title=Die Macht der Maske |publisher=Bibliothek der Provinz Verlag für Literatur, Kunst und Musikalien |year=2007 |isbn=978-3852528205 |editor-last=Kreissl |editor-first=Eva |location=Weitra, Austria |pages=165, 193n |chapter=Menschen, masken, Charaktere: the Arbeit mit Masken am Theater}}</ref> Other related forms are [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''masecha''= "mask"; Arabic ''maskhara'' مَسْخَرَ = "he ridiculed, he mocked", ''masakha'' مَسَخَ = "he transfomed" ([[transitivity (grammar)|transitive]]).