In simple words, these are big furry dogs: as simple as that.
Word origin :1300–50; Middle English mastif, perhaps extracted from Anglo-French masti ( n ) s (taken as *mastifs ), plural of Old French mastin < Vulgar Latin ( canis ) *ma ( n ) suētīnus, derivative of Latinmansuētus tame, mild
Pronunciation: mas-tif, mah-stif
Meanings of Mastiff:
1. Any of a breed of large, powerful dog with hanging lips and drooping ears and having a short, thick, often fawn-colored coat, dark 2. on the muzzle, nose, and ears: formerly used for hunting, now often a watchdog and guard dog
An old breed of large powerful short-haired dog, usually fawn or brindle with a dark mask
Master’s tip to learn Mastiff:
The best way to learn this word can be through it’s pronunciation “ mah- stiff” , now “ mah” can be thought as the hindi word “maha” which means very and “stiff” can be thought to be something that is strong. Hence mastiff can be something that is very strong and powerful but in context to dogs.
Sentences example for Mastiff:
1. One of my clients has a bull mastiff, its a boy and about the size of a lab and weighs 43kg.
2. At one time he possessed a large mastiff named lion, which he disposed of to a stranger.
3. She said that the animal was a huge black mastiff, with glaring eyes and red eyelids.
4. As the elderly man was reading he was annoyed by the big mastiff in his yard so he gave it a dog treat to tame it.