schoolmaster

What it means

1. A male teacher.
   1. A male teacher in charge of a school, usually a small one.
2. figurativelyAnything that teaches.

   The war was a tough schoolmaster for the Athenians.

   1 more example

   If death is the schoolmaster, then life is our homework

   1994, Gary Goldschneider, Joost Elffers, “June Ninth: The Day of Mental Insistence”, in The Secret Language of Birthdays, page 241

In a sentence

The war was a tough schoolmaster for the Athenians.

Where it comes from

1. Middle Englishskolemayster
2. Englishschoolmaster

From Middle English skolemayster, scolemaister, scol-meister, equivalent to school + master. Cognate with West Frisian skoalmaster (“schoolmaster”), Dutch schoolmeester (“schoolmaster”), Low German Schoolmeester, Schoolmeister (“schoolmaster”), German Schulmeister (“schoolmaster”).