Mas"ter*y (?), n.; pl. Masteries (#). [OF. maistrie.]

1. The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority.

If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops.

2. Superiority in war or competition; victory; triumph; preëminence.

The voice of them that shout for mastery.

Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.

O, but to have gulled him
Had been a mastery.

3. Contest for superiority. [Obs.] Holland.

4. A masterly operation; a feat. [Obs.]

I will do a maistrie ere I go.

5. Specifically, the philosopher's stone. [Obs.]

6. The act process of mastering; the state of having mastered.

He could attain to a mastery in all languages.

The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties.

• The position or authority of a master; dominion; command; supremacy; superiority.
       If divided by mountains, they will fight for the mastery of the passages of the tops. Sir W. Raleigh.
  
• Superiority in war or competition; victory; triumph; preeminence.
       The voice of them that shout for mastery. Exodus. xxxii. 18.
       Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. 1 Corinthians. ix. 25.
       O, but to have gulled him Had been a mastery. B. Jonson.
  
• (obsolete) Contest for superiority. Holland.
  
• (obsolete) A masterly operation; a feat.
       I will do a maistrie ere I go. Chaucer.
  
• (obsolete) Specifically, the philosopher's stone.
  
• The act or process of mastering; the state of having mastered.
       He could attain to a mastery in all languages. Tillotson.
       The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties. Locke.