Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of masto
Coloured illustration of masto
#2682 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

mast

Word origin

A north European sailors' word rather than a Latin one. It comes through German Mast and Dutch mast from the Germanic root that also gives English mast, and the whole rigging vocabulary reached Esperanto the same way the ships did.

Origin
Germanic
Root
mast
English cognates
mast

Examples

.

The sail on the tall mast was white.

.

A large flag hung from the ship's mast.

.

The sailor climbed the mast to see the harbour.

One letter from a completely different word. is the spar a sail hangs on. Mastro, rank 530, is a master, an owner or the host of a house. They differ by a single r, they come from opposite ends of Europe (Germanic against Latin magister), and nothing connects them but bad luck. A ŝipmastro is the man in charge and a ŝipmasto is a length of timber, so the r is worth your attention.

The rigging set is nearly complete. Ŝipo at 324 is the vessel, velo at 1,820 the sail, ferdeko at 2,308 the deck, haveno at 1,549 the harbour, barko at 2,626 the small boat, and was the missing piece. A velŝipo is a sailing ship and a trimasta is a three-master, built exactly as English builds it.

It is not only for boats. Esperanto extends to any tall pole planted upright for something to fly or stand on: a flagmasto for the flago, an antenmasto for a transmitter. English does the same, which for once makes the borrowing free in both directions.

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Esperanto · Free printables

masto: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "masto" (mast): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 54.