Meaning

noun a party of guests wearing costumes and masks

noun a costume worn as a disguise at a masquerade party

noun making a false outward show

originThe noun is borrowed from Middle French mascarade, masquarade, masquerade (modern French mascarade (“masquerade, masque; farce”)), and its etymon Italian mascherata (“masquerade”), from maschera (“mask”) + -ata. Maschera is derived from Medieval Latin masca (“mask”): see further there. The English word is cognate with Late Latin masquarata, Portuguese mascarada, Spanish mascarada. The verb is…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0