What does "mace" mean?
A heavy fighting club.
Mace
/meɪs/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A heavy fighting club.
- Grammar: mace is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aril spice, armory, atlas, badge.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, blade, evade.
- Usage evidence: One gladiator's weapon of choice is the mace, while the other's is a sword.
How to use "mace"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mace" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mace" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mace" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mace" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mace" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aril spice" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mace", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A heavy fighting club.
"The Mace is an ancient weapon, formerly much used by cavalry of all nations, and likewise by ecclesiastics, who in consequence of their tenures, frequently took the field, but were by a canon of the church forbidden to wield the sword."
- 2 A spice obtained from the outer layer of the kernel of the fruit of the nutmeg. uncountable
"I must have saffron to color the warden pies; mace; dates, none -- that's out of my note; nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I may beg; four pounds of prunes, and as many of raisins o' th' sun."
- 3 Tear gas or pepper spray, especially for personal use. countable, uncountable
"[…] was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison for shooting a man in the eye with a paintball gun, spraying people in the face with bear mace and aiming a loaded handgun at a crowd, prosecutors said."
- 4 An old money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael.
- 5 Initialism of major adverse cardiovascular event. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 a ceremonial staff carried as a symbol of office or authority wordnet
- 7 A ceremonial form of this weapon.
"I am a king that find thee; and I know 'Tis not the balm, the sceptre, and the ball, The sword, the mace, the crown imperial, The intertissued robe of gold and pearl"
- 8 An old weight of 57.98 grains, approximately 3.8 grams.
"The decimals of the tael, called mace, candareen, and cash (tsien, fǎn, and li) , are employed in reckoning bullion."
- 9 spice made from the dried fleshy covering of the nutmeg seed wordnet
- 10 A long baton used by some drum majors to keep time and lead a marching band. If this baton is referred to as a mace, by convention it has a ceremonial often decorative head, which, if of metal, usually is hollow and sometimes intricately worked.
- 11 an official who carries a mace of office wordnet
- 12 An officer who carries a mace as a token of authority.
"On the left were the Commons with their Speaker, attended by the mace. The southern door opened: and the Prince and Princess of Orange, side by side, entered, and took their place under the canopy of state."
- 13 (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 wordnet
- 14 A knobbed mallet used by curriers to make leather supple when dressing it.
"In the foreground one man uses the "head knife” to work over the skin on the beam, while another softens a skin with the currier's mace."
- 15 A billiard cue. archaic
Verb
- 1 To hit someone or something with a mace.
- 2 To spray in defense or attack with mace (pepper spray or tear gas) using a hand-held device.
- 3 To spray a similar noxious chemical in defense or attack using an available hand-held device such as an aerosol spray can. informal
"When Reynaldo and Willie had burst into Larkey's drug store to confront him, the old man had maced Willie square in the eyes with an aerosol can of spermicidal birth-control foam."
Proper Noun
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of mace (tear gas or pepper spray) alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 2 A male given name, a name derived from the war instrument, a mace countable
- 3 A surname. countable
"Prior to the House passing the legislation, only four Republicans had joined all Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote - Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene."
- 4 A surname.; An English surname transferred from the given name. countable, uncountable
- 5 A surname.; A surname from Norman. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 An unincorporated community in Walnut Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"One gladiator's weapon of choice is the mace, while the other's is a sword."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mace"?
Common synonyms include: aril spice, armory, atlas, badge, badge of office, badges.
How do you use "mace" in a sentence?
One gladiator's weapon of choice is the mace, while the other's is a sword.
How do you pronounce "mace"?
Pronounced /meɪs/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mace, borrowed from Old French mace, mache, from Vulgar Latin *mattia, *mattea, matia, (compare Italian mazza, Spanish maza), probably from Proto-West Germanic *mattjō (“cutting tool, hoe”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English, from re-interpretation of macys as a plural (as with pea); from Latin macir. Doublet of macir.
Etymology 3
From the name of one brand of the spray, Mace. Pepper spray may be derived from cayenne pepper, but not from mace (etymology 2 above), which is a different spice; rather, it was named after the weapon (etymology 1).
Etymology 4
Borrowed from Javanese [Term?] and Malay [Term?], meaning "a bean".
Etymology 5
* As an English surname, from the personal name Masse, probably shortened from Matthew. Compare Massey, Massett. * As a French and Breton surname, from Macé, vernacular form of Mathieu. Compare Maze. * Also as a French surname, from Macé in Orne, from Late Latin Macciacum, from the personal name Maccius. * Also as a French surname, variant of Massé; see Masse.