Etymology: < Anglo-Norman mascle (c1300 in heraldic sense ‘lozenge’, 1472 in heraldic sense ‘voided lozenge’) < post-classical Latin mascula mesh (from 1269 in British sources; in heraldic use from c1400 in British sources), variant of macula macula n. with -s- probably after mask n.¹ or its Germanic base; it is uncertain whether a Germanic diminutive < the base of mask n.¹ may have exerted any influence (compare mascle n.², macle n.). With the heraldic sense compare macle n., and also Anglo-Norman masclé (see mascly adj.).( N.E.D. (1905) gives the pronunciation as (mɑ·sk'l) /ˈmɑːskl/, but for mascled adj. gives (ma·sk'ld) /ˈmæsk(ə)ld/: it is not clear whether this was intended to denote a distinction in pronunciation, or was simply the result of error.)

Etymology: Probably < classical Latin macula macula n., with -s- after mascle n.¹ and perhaps also measles n. Compare early modern Dutch masschel spot, blemish (in Kiliaan), apparently < Middle Dutch masce , masche mesh of a net (see mask n.¹) + -el -el suffix¹ (compare macle n.).Perhaps attested earlier in a field name, Maskelawe (Bromfield, Cumberland; c1230; now lost), for which the sense ‘spotted hill’ has been proposed (compare low n.¹), although its identification in this name is uncertain. Although post-classical Latin mascula is found as a variant of macula in the senses ‘mesh’ and ‘lozenge’ (see mascle n.¹), it appears to have been restricted to these senses.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman mascle male adj.