noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
General-American, UK:/ˈmæstɪf/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:M AE1 S T AH0 F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
One of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Alternative letter-case form of mastiff.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
an old breed of powerful deep-chested smooth-coated dog used chiefly as a watchdog and guard dog
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: working dog
Narrower terms: Tibetan mastiff
History
Etymology
From Middle English mastif, mastyf, an aberrant derivation (with influence from Old French mestif) from Old French mastin (modern French mâtin), from Vulgar Latin *mansuetinus (“tamed (animal)”), from Latin mansuetus (“tamed”).
Across languages
Translations
41 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
waghond
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Afrikaans:
slagtershond
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Afrikaans:
kettinghond
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Arabic:
دِرْوَاس
(dirwās)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Aragonese:
mostín
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Bulgarian:
английски дог
(anglijski dog)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Catalan:
mastí
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Chinese Mandarin:
獒
(áo)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Czech:
doga
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Dutch:
mastiff
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Esperanto:
dogo
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Finnish:
mastiffi
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
French:
dogue
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Galician:
mastín
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
German:
Dogge
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Hebrew:
מסטיף
(mastiff)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Hungarian:
masztiff
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Interlingua:
dogo
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Interlingua:
mastiff
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Irish:
maistín
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Italian:
mastino
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Japanese:
マスチフ
(masuchifu)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Japanese:
マスティフ
(masutifu)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Latin:
canis villaticus
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Latin:
canis Anglicus
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Lithuanian:
mastifas
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Malay:
anjing mastif
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Old English:
ryþþa
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Old English:
roþhund
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Polish:
mastif
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Portuguese:
mastim
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Portuguese:
dogue
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Romanian:
mastif
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Russian:
дог
(dog)
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Spanish:
mastín
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Spanish:
alano
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Spanish:
dogo
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Tibetan:
འདོགས་ཁྱི
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Turkish:
mastif
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Volapük:
doeg
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog
Welsh:
mastiff
— powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dog