MM

(Freemasonry) Initialism of Master Mason.


tile

en-verb

tile (third-person singular simple present tiles, present participle tiling, simple past and past participle tiled)

tiles (present singular third-person)
tiling (participle present)
tiled (participle past)
tiled (past)

From Middle English tile, tyle, tigel, tiȝel, teȝele, from Old English tieġle, tiġle, tiġele (“tile; brick”), from Proto-West Germanic *tigulā, from Proto-Germanic *tigulǭ (“tile”), from Latin tēgula. Doublet of tegula.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tichel (“tile”), West Frisian teil, tegel, tichel (“tile”), Dutch tichel, tegel (“tile”), German Ziegel (“brick; tile”), Danish tegl (“brick”), Swedish tegel (“brick; tile”), Icelandic tigl (“tile; brick”).

(Freemasonry) To seal a lodge against intrusions from unauthorised people.


master

masters (plural)
maistre (alternative)
Marse (alternative)
marse (alternative)
mas'r (alternative)
Master (alternative)
mastre (alternative)
maister (alternative)
mayster (alternative)
Massa (alternative)
massa (alternative)
massah (alternative)
massy (alternative)
masta (alternative)
Mastah (alternative)
mastah (alternative)
mastuh (alternative)
measter (alternative)
mester (alternative)
mister (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: masra

→ Catalan: màster

→ Finnish: master

→ French: master

→ German: Master

→ Polish: master

→ Portuguese: máster

→ Spanish: máster

→ Turkish: master

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

doublet

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(Freemasonry) A person holding an office of authority, especially the presiding officer.

majstro

freemasonry: person holding an office of authority


clandestine

en-adj

clandestine (comparative more clandestine, superlative most clandestine)

more clandestine (comparative)
most clandestine (superlative)

From Latin clandestīnus (“secret, concealed”); compare French clandestin.

bor

(Freemasonry, of a person or lodge) Not recognized as a regular member.


profane

profanes (plural)
prophane (alternative)

From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“before”) + fānum (“temple”).


Monitor

(Freemasonry) A text of works or instruction which are not secret and may be written e.g. "Indiana Monitor and Freemasons' Guide".


GAOTU

(Freemasonry) Deity, whatever a person's belief system is.


UGLE

United Grand Lodge of England
w:United Grand Lodge of England

(Freemasonry) Initialism of United Grand Lodge of England.


encampment

en-noun

encampment (countable and uncountable, plural encampments)

PIE word
 *h₁én
From encamp (“to establish a camp or temporary shelter”) + -ment (suffix forming nouns denoting actions or their results).

affix

(by extension, Freemasonry, obsolete) A meeting of Freemasons.


Jahbulon

Various etymologies of this word are found; as a mystic word it may be deliberately obscure, though the first syllable is invariably given as being Hebrew יָהּ (Yah, “Yahweh”). Some theories often cited:
* First, that it is a compound of יָהּ (Yah, “Yahweh”) + בּעל (bul, “on high, in heaven”) + אוֹן (’on, “strength”).
* Second, that it may have been a blend of יָהּ (Yah, “Yahweh”) + זְבוּלוּן (Zəbūlūn, “Zebulun or Zabulon, son of Jacob”).
* Third, it is explained as being a combination of יָהּ (Yah, “Yahweh”) + בּעל (bul, “Baal”) + אוֹן (’On, “Heliopolis”), a city of Egypt, explained as a reference to Osiris, perhaps as a misunderstanding of Genesis 46:20. Stephen Knight in The Brotherhood and Martin Short in Inside the Brotherhood argued that Jahbulon is a trinity consisting of Yahweh, God of the Jews, Baal, God of the Phoenicians and Celts, and Osiris, an Egyptian God.

Yahbulon (alternative)
Jabulon (alternative)

To this name, as the Royal Arch Masons to that of Jabulon, they attributed the most wonderful powers; and it could only be the subject of silent but pleasing contemplation, for its pronunciation was said to make earth and heaven tremble, and even the angels of heaven to quake with fear.

1875, Charles William Heckethorn, Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries:

In the ritual of exaltation, the name of the Great Architect of the Universe is revealed as JAH-BUL-ON – not a general umbrella term open to any interpretation an individual Freemason might choose, but a precise designation that describes a specific supernatural being – a compound deity composed of three separate personalities fused in one.

For the Masons, as for the Hermeticists, the name of the Hidden God was too sacred or magically powerful to be revealed even to the lower grades, the craft. This name was Jahbulon, and—not surprisingly—it is a triple name, its first two syllables being Ja for Yahwe, the God of Israel, and Bul for the Canaanite Baʿal.

“JAH-BUL-ON” was laid out on an altar that also displayed the Hebrew letters aleph, beth, and lamed (A, B, L).

2001, Gareth J Medway, Lure of the Sinister:

The complexity of the ceremonies in the Craft and the inclusion of the now defunct key word ‘jahbulon’ in Chapter, which I believe was the ultimate Masons word, means that the authors of Freemasonry in the 18th century were extremely well informed as to the importance and contents of the Rosslyn Chapel.

Thus, the final translation of the masonic god-name Jahbulon or Yahbulon could well be ‘Thoth, Lord of Heliopolis’, or perhaps even the ‘Thoth Pyramid of Heliopolis’.

(Freemasonry) A symbolic or ceremonial name for God associated by some writers with certain Masonic rites or passwords.


deacon

Inherited from Old English diacon, from Ecclesiastical Latin diāconus, from Ancient Greek διᾱ́κονος (diā́konos, “servant, minister”).


monitorial

(Freemasonry) Not secret and therefore printed in the Monitor.


cowan

en-noun

cowan (plural cowans or (obsolete) cowanis)

cowans (plural)
cowanis (obsolete plural)
kowan (alternative)
cowen (alternative)

(Freemasonry) A person who attempts to pass himself off as a Freemason without having experienced the rituals or going through the degrees.


pursuivant

pursuivants (plural)
poursuivant (alternative)
pursevant (alternative)

From Middle English pursevant et al., from Old French pursuivant, present participle of pursuivre (“to follow”). Doublet of pursuant.

(Freemasonry) A Grand Lodge Officer who guards the inner door during a meeting of the Grand Lodge.


Shriner

(Freemasonry) A member of the fraternal Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.


tiler

Inherited from Middle English tiler, tilar, tilere, tylere, tighelar, tyghelere, tygelere, probably from Old English *tiglere, *tigelere (“one who lays tile, tiler”), equivalent to tile + -er.

(Freemasonry) A doorkeeper or attendant at a lodge of Freemasons.


tiled

(Freemasonry) Of a lodge, having been sealed against intrusions from unauthorized people.


past master

past masters (plural)
passed master (alternative)
past-master (alternative)
pastmaster (alternative)

(Freemasonry) Someone who has previously been a master at a given lodge.


Hiramic

(Freemasonry) Of, or pertaining to, Hiram Abiff, the chief character in an allegorical legend connected with the initiation into the third degree of Freemasonry.


adogmatic

(Freemasonry) That rejects the use of dogma


York Rite

Named after the city of York in England, where the first meetings of Masons in England are said to have taken place.

(Freemasonry) A rite of Freemasonry consisting of a series of progressive degrees that can be conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies.


Grand Lodge Freemasonry

United States of America
United States of America

(Freemasonry) Freemasonry in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Empire, the Commonwealth of Nations, the United States of America, and the English-speaking world generally. It requires belief in God for membership and is apolitical, in contrast to Grand Orient Freemasonry in Romance-language countries.


Domatic

(Freemasonry, chiefly Scotland) Practical (operative), as opposed to theoretic (speculative).


Geomatic

(Freemasonry, chiefly Scotland) Theoretic (speculative) as opposed to practical (operative).


Grand Orient

(Freemasonry) An overarching group of associated Masonic lodges, led by a grandmaster.


close-tiled

(Freemasonry) Of a lodge, having been sealed against intrusions from unauthorised people.


Entered Apprentice

Entered Apprentice (plural Entered Apprentices)

(Freemasonry) A candidate who has completed the first degree of initiation into Freemasonry.


appendant body

appendant body (plural appendant bodies)

(Freemasonry) A Masonic organization that one can join after completing the three basic Blue Lodge degrees (Entered Apprentice, fellowcraft, and Master Mason), and which offers more advanced teaching.


Swedish Rite

(Freemasonry) A rite of Freemasonry consisting of a series of ten degrees, common in Scandinavian countries and to a limited extent in Germany.


Operative Masonry

Coordinate term: Speculative Masonry

But you and I, my brother, are taught that Operative Masonry is but the outward form, the type, the model of speculative Masonry; and that King Solomon’s Temple, with all its particulars, was the antitype of the grand world-wide system which we call Freemasonry.

1878 February 16, Rob Morris, “The Holy Land and the Temple”, in The Freemason’s Chronicle, volume 7, number 164, page 116:

(Freemasonry, archaic) Practical masonry, i.e. construction with stone and other materials, understood as a coherent and ancient system contrasted with Speculative Masonry or Freemasonry.