pay ‧ mas ‧ ter /ˈpeɪˌmɑːstə $ -ˌmæstər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a powerful person or organization that secretly pays and controls another person or organization:
The assassin’s paymasters were never identified.
2 . someone who is responsible for giving people their wages that they are owed, for example an official in a factory or the army