ABSTRACT
The terminology for masking in the pre-modern period is flexible and, as might be expected, not always consistent, at least to modern eyes. Consequently, although we may set out to provide a comprehensive definition of the vocabulary, this can never be fully realised. Nonetheless the nuances and ambiguities thrown up by the attempt are significant in themselves and, as with most such exercises, definition becomes less important than implication and connotation. The boundaries of the semantic field of any one of the terms used below do not map precisely to the boundaries of our modern equivalents, but the interest of the exercise lies precisely in the places where they do not, because this can reveal unexpected assumptions about the nature of masking and the implicit categories into which it was placed. An apparent ambiguity may be the clue to a different mode of thinking, and open a window on an entirely new view of premodern masking.
