mastermind

See also: Mastermind

English

WOTD – 3 August 2009

Etymology

From master +‎ mind.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑː.stə.mʌɪnd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmæs.tɚˌmaɪnd/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

mastermind (plural masterminds)

1. A person with an extraordinary intellect or skill that is markedly superior to his or her peers.
   • 1840, Edgar Allan Poe, The Colloquy of Monos and Una:

     At long intervals some master-minds appeared, looking upon each advance in practical science as a retro-gradation in the true utility.

   • 2003, Steve Kemper, chapter 2, in Code Name Ginger: the Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World, →ISBN, page 34:

     His first outside hire wasn't an electronics whiz or a mechanical mastermind, but a young industrial designer, a creature hitherto unknown at DEKA.

2. A person responsible for the highest level of planning and execution of a major operation.
   • 2007, Mark S. Hamm, chapter 6, in Terrorism as Crime: from Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond, →ISBN, page 196:

     The first was with none other than Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

Descendants

• → German: Mastermind

Translations

person with extraordinary intellect

• Czech: mozek (cs) m
• French: cerveau (fr) m, tête (fr) f
• German: Superhirn n
• Slovak: mozok m
• Spanish: mente maestra f
• Ukrainian: мозок m (mozok), голова (uk) f (holova)

person responsible for a major operation

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: ръководител (bg) m (rǎkovoditel), организатор (bg) m (organizator)
• Catalan: cervell (ca) m, ment pensant f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: mozek (cs) m
• Finnish: johtaja (fi)
• French: cerveau (fr) m
• German: Drahtzieher (de) m, Mastermind n
• Greek: ιθύνων νους (el) m (ithýnon nous)
• Indonesian: dalang (id)
• Japanese: 首謀者 (Shubō-sha)
• Russian: руководи́тель (ru) m (rukovodítelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: руково̀дилац m, ко̏ловођа m, пла̀не̄р m

  Roman: rukovòdilac (sh) m, kȍlovođa (sh), plànēr (sh) m

• Slovak: mozok m
• Spanish: cerebro (es) m, mente maestra f
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: керівник (uk) (kerivnyk)

Verb

mastermind (third-person singular simple present masterminds, present participle masterminding, simple past and past participle masterminded)

1. To act in the role of mastermind.
   • 2007, Kevin Danaher et al., Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots, →ISBN, page 136:

     It would later be revealed that the corporation contributed over a quarter of a million dollars to the effort—a whopping 93 percent of the total coffer—and hired a team of media and political experts to mastermind it.

   • 2020 July 1, David Allen, “Signalling from Leeds along the S&C”, in Rail, page 78:

     Travelling over the route today, it is well to remember the ongoing role of the Friends of the S&C and the work of the late Ron Cotton. He masterminded its revival, thereby reversing the role he had been given by BR to bring about its closure.

Translations

to act as mastermind

• Bulgarian: ръководя (bg) (rǎkovodja), организирам (bg) (organiziram)
• Finnish: johtaa (fi)
• French: organiser (fr), diriger (fr)
• Indonesian: mendalangi (id)
• Italian: orchestrare (it), architettare (it)
• Russian: руководи́ть (ru) (rukovodítʹ), управля́ть (ru) (upravljátʹ)

References

• “mastermind”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• mindstream