different between mastiff vs bandog

English

Alternative forms

• Mastiff

Etymology

From Middle English mastif, mastyf, an aberrant derivation (with influence from Old French mestif) from Old French mastin (modern French mâtin), from Vulgar Latin *mansuetinus (“tamed (animal)”), from Latin mansuetus (“tamed”).

Pronunciation

• (General American, UK) IPA^(key): /?mæst?f/

Noun

mastiff (plural mastiffs)

1. One of an old breed of powerful, deep-chested, and smooth-coated dogs, used chiefly as watchdogs and guard dogs.
   • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III, Scene VI

     Avaunt, you curs! Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or him.

   • 1896, Theodore Roosevelt, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, The Century Co., chapter 11

     The Mastiff is a good fighter, and can kill a wildcat, taking the necessary punishment well, as we found out when we once trapped one of these small lynxes.

Hypernyms

• molosser

Translations

English

Etymology

From band +? dog.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?band??/

Noun

bandog (plural bandogs)

1. (now rare) A dog that has been tied up; a mastiff or other kind of guard dog.
   • 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History

     Patriots may smile; and, using him [ Jean-Paul Marat ] as bandog now to be muzzled, now to be let bark....

   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 934:

     The guns on the fortress responded, but the small calibre made them sound as if they were yapping like bandogs while the bombers bayed and gave tongue like hounds in cry.

2. (specifically) A type of large, ferocious dog, bred by crossing American pit bull terriers with Neapolitan mastiffs.
3. (obsolete, slang, cant) A bailiff or prison guard.

Alternative forms

• band-dog

Translations

Anagrams

• Badong, Bogdan, dongba