Masonic
Dictionary
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– H ]
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[ I
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[ Q – Z ]
ACCEPTED
The Latin accipere,
receive, was from ad, meaning "to," and
capere, meaning "take,"
therefore to take, to receive.
The passive apprenticeship and initiation, but after
the participle of this was
acceptus. In Operative Masonry members
were admitted through course of time, and when the
Craft had begun to decay, gentlemen who had no
intention of doing builders' work but were
interested in the Craft for social, or perhaps for
antiquarian reasons, were accepted" into membership;
to distinguish these gentlemen Masons from the
Operatives in the membership they were called the
"Accepted." After 1717, when the whole Craft was
revolutionized into a Fraternity, all members became
non-Operatives, hence our use of the word in such
phrases as "Free and Accepted Masons."
AFFILIATE
Filius is Latin for son,
filia for daughter; the
prefix "af" is a form of
the Latin ad, meaning to add to. To be affiliated
means therefore to be adopted into a family as a son
or daughter, a meaning that beautifully covers a
Mason's relation to his Lodge once he has affiliated
with it.
ALARM
The Latin for weapons, or arms, was
arma. Our "art" and
"article" came from the same root, art meaning
something originally made by the use of the arms,
hands and fingers. The English "alarm" goes back
directly to the Italian alle
arme, and ultimately to
the Latin ad arma so
that "alarm" means "to arms, signifying that
something has happened of possible danger. A knock
at the Lodge door is so named because it calls for
alertness, lest the wrong man be permitted to enter.
ALLEGORY
The Greeks called a place of public assembly agora;
from this they built the word
agoreuein, meaning speak, in the sense of
ad-dressing a public. When to this is added alias,
meaning another, the compound gives us our
"allegory," which is the speaking about one thing in
the terms of something else. In Masonry we have the
allegory of Solomon's Temple, of a journey, of the
legend of a martyr builder, etc., in each case the
acting and describing of one thing being intended to
refer to some other thing. For example, the building
of Solomon's Temple is described, not for the
purpose of telling how that structure was erected,
but to suggest boxy men may work together in
brotherliness at a common task.
ALTAR
Alt, in Latin, referred to height, preserved in our
"altitude;" this root appeared in
altare, literally
meaning a "high place." In primitive religion it was
a common practice to make sacrifices, or conduct
worship, on the top of a hill, or high platform, so
that "altar" came to be applied to any stone, post,
platform, or other elevation used for such purposes.
In. the Lodge the altar is the most holy place.
APPRENTICE
In Latin apprehendre
meant to lay hold of a thing in the sense of
learning to understand it, the origin of our
"apprehend." This became contracted into
apprendre and was
applied to a young man beginning to learn a trade.
The latter term came into circulation among European
languages and, through the Operative Masons, gave us
our "apprentice," that is, one who is beginning to
learn Masonry. An "Entered Apprentice" is one whose
name has been entered in the books of the Lodge.
APRON
In early English, napron
was used of a cloth, a tablecloth, whence our
napery, nap-kin; it apparently was derived from the
Latin map pa, the source of "map." "Apron is a
misdivided form of "a
napron," and meant a
cloth, more particularly a cloth tied on in front to
protect the clothes. The Operative Masons wore a
leather apron out of necessity; when the craft
became speculative this garment, so long identified
with building work was retained as the badge of
Masons; also as a symbol of purity, a meaning
attached to it, probably, in comparatively recent
times, though of this one cannot be certain.
ASHLAR
The Latin assis was a
board or plank; in the diminutive form,
assula, it meant a small
board, like a shingle, or a chip. In this con-nection
it is interesting to note that our "axle" and'
"axis" were derived from it. In early English this
became asheler and was
used to denote a stone in the rough as it came from
the quarries. The Operative Masons called such a
stone a "rough ashlar,"
and when it had been shaped and finished for its
place in the wall they called it a "perfect
ashlar." An Apprentice
is a rough ashlar,
because unfinished, whereas a Master Mason is a
perfect ashlar, because
he has been shaped for his place in the organization
of the Craft.
ATHEIST
The Greek for God was theos;
when the j prefix a was placed before it, we get the
origin j of "atheism," signifying a denial of the
god, or gods. The word should be distinguished from
"agnosticism," which means neither to affirm nor to
deny but to remain in doubt; and from "infidel,"
which means that one does not believe some doctrine.
Christians call Mohammedans "infidels" because they
do not believe the Bible;
Mohammendans call Christians "infidels"
because they do not believe the Koran. Inasmuch as
Masonry requires of a petitioner that he believe in
God the atheist is automatically excluded from the
Fraternity.
BROTHER
This word is one of the oldest, as it is one of the
most beautiful, in any language. No-body knows where
or when it originated, but it is certain that it
existed in the Sanskrit, in a form strikingly
similar to that used by us. In Greek it was
phrater, in the Latin
frater, whence our
"fraternal" and "fraternalism." It has always meant
men from the same parents, or men knit by very close
blood ties. When associated with "initiation, which
las the general meaning
of "being born into," one can see how appropriate is
its k use in Freemasonry. All of us have, through
initiation in our "mother" Lodges, been born into a
Masonry and therefore we are "brothers," and that
which holds us together in one great family is the
"Mystic Tie," the Masonic analogue of the blood tie
among kinsmen.
CANDIDATE
Among Romans it was the custom for a man seeking
office to wear a shining white robe. Since the name
for such a color was candidus
(whence our "candid"), the office seeker came to be
called candidate. In our ceremonies the custom is
reversed: the candidate is clothed after his
election instead of before.
CARDINAL
In Masonry we have "cardinal points" and "cardinal
virtues." The Greeks had kradan,
meaning, "swing on," and the Romans had
cardo, meaning "hinge."
The roots mean that on which a thing swings, or
hinges, on which a thing depends or hangs, therefore
anything that is of fundamental or pivotal,
importance. A member of the Sacred College of the
Roman Church is a Cardinal because of the importance
of his office, which ranks next in dignity to that
of the Pope. The cardinal points of the compass are
those from which are determined all other points,
north, east, south, west; the cardinal virtues are
those which are fundamental to all other virtues.
CEREMONY
The Latin caerimonia
referred to a set of formal acts having a sacred, or
revered, character. A ceremony differs from a merely
formal act in that it has a religious significance;
a formality becomes a ceremony only when it is made
sacred. A "ceremony" may be individual, or may
involve only two per-sons; a rite" (see below under
"ritual") is more public, and necessarily involves
many. An "observance" is public, as when the whole
nation "observes" Memorial Day. A "Master of
Ceremonies" is one who directs and regulates forms,
rites and ceremonies.
CHARITY
The Greeks had a word, charisma, meaning a gift, and
a number of words from the same root, variously
suggesting rejoicing, gladness. The
Latins had a similar
word, carus, and meaning
dear, possibly connected with am or, signifying
love. From these roots came "grace," meaning a free,
unbought gift, as in the
theological phrase, "the grace of God," and
"charity." Strictly speaking, charity is an act done
freely, and spontaneously out of friendship, not as
a civic duty and grudgingly, as is sometimes the
case in public charity. The Masonic use of the word
is much nearer this original sense, for a Mason
extends relief to a needy brother not as a duty but
out of friendship.
CHARTER
In Latin charta was a
paper, a card, a map; in Medieval Latin this became
an official paper, as in the case of "Magna Charta."
Our "chart" and "card" are derived from the same
root. A Masonic charter is the written paper, or
instrument, empowering a group of brethren to act as
a Lodge.
CIRCUMAMBULATION
In Masonic terminology this is the technical name of
that ceremony in which the candidate walks around
the Lodge. The word 4 is derived from the Latin
prefix cireum, meaning
"around," and ainbulare,
meaning "walk," whence our ambulate, ambulatory,
etc.; a circumambulation is therefore a walking
around. In ancient religions and mysteries the
worshippers walked around an altar; imitating the
movements of the sun; this became known as
circumambulation, and is the origin of our own
ceremony.
CLANDESTINE
In Anglo Saxon "helan"
meant something hidden, or secret, a meaning
preserved in "conceal;" "hell," the hidden place, is
from the same word. Helan
descended' from the Latin
celare, hide; and on this was built the Latin
clandestinus, secret,
hidden, furtive. In English clandestine, thus
derived, came to mean a bad secret, one that must be
indulged in furtively. A secret may be innocent; it
is merely something done without the knowledge of
others, and nothing is more common; but a
clandestine act is one done in such a way as to
elude observation. Clandestine Masonry is a bad kind
of irregular and unlawful secret society falsely
claiming to be Masonic. In the Constitutions a
Clandestine Mason is defined as, "One claiming to be
a Free and Accepted Mason not having received the
degrees in a Lodge recognized as regular by the
Grand Lodge of the State of New York."
CLOTHING
In early English cloth was used of garment, dress,
and shows up in our clad, cloth, clothe, clothing.
Clothing is the set of garments, or coverings, by
which the body is protected from the weather and
concealed from view. In Masonic usage the meaning is
much narrower and more technical; a Mason is clothed
when he wears the apron, white gloves, and the
emblem of his rank. The apron and gloves are also
employed as symbols, though gloves have pretty much
fallen into disuse in American Masonry.
COLUMN
The Greeks called the top or summit of anything
kolophon; in Latin
culmen had a similar
meaning; from these origins come our culmination ;"
excelsior, colophon, colonnade, colonel, and climax
appears to he closely related to it. A "column" is a
cylindrical, or slightly tapering, support; a
"pillar" is a rectangular support. Either may stand
free or be incorporated into the building fabric.
The officers of a Lodge are figured as columns
because they are the supports of the official fabric
of the Lodge. The Great Pillars are symbolical
representations of the two pillars, which stood on
the Porch of King Solomon's Temple.
COMMUNICATION
There is some dispute as to the origin of this word
but usually it is held to have come from
communis, a Latin term
for general, or universal, whence our common, common
wealth, communion, communism, communal and many
similar words. To communicate is to share something
with others so that all may partake of it; a
communication is an act, transaction, or
deliberation shared in by all present. From this it
will be seen how appropriate is our use of the word
to designate those official Lodge meetings in which
all members have a part or a voice.
COMPASSES
This is the plural of compass, from the Latin corn,
meaning "together," and passus,
meaning a pass, step, way, or route. Contrivance,
cunning, encompass, pass, pace derive from the same
roots. A circle was once described as a compass
because all the steps in making it were ''together,"
that is, of the same distance from the center; and
the word, natural transition, became applied to the
familiar two-legged' instrument for drawing a
circle. Some Masons use the word in the singular, as
in "square and compass," hut the plural form "square
and compasses" would appear to he preferable,
especially since it immediately distinguishes the
working tool from the mariner's compass, with which
it might be otherwise confused by the uninformed.
CONSECRATION
Sacer was the Latin for
something set aside as holy. By prefixing con,
meaning "together," consecrare
resulted, the general significance of which was that
by adding to some holy object a formal ceremony the
object was declared to be holy to the public, and
must therefore be treated as such. The ceremony of
consecrating a Lodge room is a way of giving notice
to the public that it has been dedicated, or set
aside, for Masonic purposes only.
CONSTITUTION
Statuere meant that a
thing was set, or placed, or established; when con
was added (see immediately above)
constituere meant than
an official ceremony had set, or fixed, or placed a
thing. From the same source come statue, statute,
institute, restitute, etc. A Lodge is "constituted"
when it is formally and officially set up, and given
its own permanent place in the Fraternity.
COWAN
The origin is unknown, but it may be early Scotch.
It was used of a man who practiced Masonry, usually
of the roughest character as in the building of
walls, who had not been regularly trained and
initiated, corresponding in some sense to "scab" as
used by labor unions. If a man has learned the work
by some illegal method he is a
cowan. An "eavesdropper" is one who spies on
a Lodge, and may be such without having learned
anything about it before. A "clandestine" is one who
has gone through initiation ceremonies but not in a
regular Lodge.
CRAFT
In Anglo-Saxon, craft meant cunning, skill, power,
dexterity, etc. The word became applied to trades
and occupations calling for trained skill on the
part of those practicing it. The distinction between
such trades and those not requiring trained workmen,
so rigidly maintained, was one of the hallmarks of
the Middle Ages. Freemasonry is called a Craft,
partly for historical reasons, partly because,
unlike so many fraternities, it requires a training
(given in the form of initiation ceremonies) of
those seeking its membership.
DEACON
Despite the fact that the bloom has been rubbed off
by our slangy use of it, this is one of the most
beautiful words in our language. In Greek,
diakonos was a servant,
a messenger, a waiting man. In the early Christian
Church a deacon served at the Lord's Supper and
administered alms to the poor; and the word still
most frequently refers to such a church officer. It
appears that the two Lodge offices of Senior and
Junior Deacon were patterned on the church offices.
DEDICATION
The Latin dedicatus was
a participial form of dedicare,
the latter having the meaning of declare, devote,
proclaim - the root from which "diction" comes. To
dedicate a building means by public ceremony to
declare it built for some certain purpose.
Dedication and consecration are closely allied in
meaning, but the latter is more religious in its
purposes.
DEGREE
The Latin gradus from
which are derived grade, gradual, graduation, etc.,
meant a step, or set of steps, particularly of a
stair; when united with the prefix,
da, meaning "down," it
became degradus, and
referred to steps, degrees, progress by marked
stages. From this came our "degree," which is a
step, or grade, in the progress of a candidate
toward the consummation of his membership. Our habit
of picturing the degrees as proceeding from lower to
higher, like climbing a stair, is thus very close to
the ancient and original meaning of the word.
DEPUTATION
A group of words such as compute, repute, depute
sprang from the Latin putare,
which meant (among other things) to estimate, to
think, to count among. From this came
deputatus, to select, to
appoint. The idea was that from a number of persons
one was told off for a special duty, hence our word
"deputy." A deputation is an instrument appointing
some man or group of men to act for others
officially. Our Deputy Grand Master is thus set
apart to act in the place of the Grand Master on
need, and a District Deputy Grand Master is so
called because he is appointed or told off by the
Grand Master to act as his personal representative
in a District.
DEMIT
(Also spelled "dimit.")
As a verb this hails from the Latin
dimettere, to send away,
to release, to let go; we have it in our "dismiss."
To dimit from an
organization is, using the official form, to resign,
to relinquish one's membership. It has this meaning
in Masonry.
DISCALCEATION
'While this is not as familiar to Masons as the
preceding words, it should come into more popular
use because it is the technical name to describe an
important element in the ceremony of initiation.
Calceare was the Latin
for shoe, calceatus
meant shod. When united with the prefix
dis, meaning apart, or
asunder, our discalceate
was originated, the obvious meaning of which is the
removal of one's shoes, as suggested in the familiar
Bible passage, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground." The ceremonial
removal of the shoes is properly called the "rite of
discalceation."
DISPENSATION
Pendere was the Latin
word for a weight, the root from which came many
English words, notably pendent, expend, spend,
dispense, etc. With the prefix
dis, explained in the preceding paragraph,
dispendere meant to
weigh out, to pay off, to expend. From this came
dispensatus, meaning to
manage, to regulate, to distribute. In our usage a
dispensation is a written instrument by which
authority is made over to a group of brethren to
form a Lodge.
DOTAGE
This is not a very beautiful word but it is
interesting. It first came into existence among the
early English, Dutch, German, and Scandinavian
peoples, generally in the form
dotten, dutten,
meaning to nod with drowsiness, to nap. Since it was
old people who most frequently sat nodding in their
chairs it became associated with old age. "An old
man in his dotage" is one who nods or prattles like
a sleepy child, and whose faculties have begun to
decay through old age. Old age is never a bar to
Masonic membership unless it has reached this stage.
DUES
In Latin debere meant to
owe something; it is preserved in our familiar, too
familiar, "debt," in debit, indebted, debenture,
duty, dues, etc. Related is the French devoir, often
employed in English, meaning a piece of work one is
under obligation to do. The same idea appears in
"duty," which means that which is due, or that which
is owed, in the moral sense. Dues represent one's
fixed and regular indebtedness to his Lodge which he
placed himself under obligation to pay when he
signed the by-laws.
EAVESDROPPER
Early European peoples used a word in various forms
- evese,
obasa,
opa, etc., -which meant
the rim, or edge, of something, like the edge of a
field; it came in time to be applied wholly to the
gutter which runs along the edge of a roof. (Our
"over" comes from this root.) "Dropper" had an
origin among the same languages, and meant that
which drips, or dribbles, like water dropping from a
thawing icicle. Eavesdrop, therefore, was the water
which dripped from the eaves. If a man set himself
to listen through a window or keyhole to what was
going on in a house he had to stand so close that
the eavesdropping would fall upon him, for which
reason all prying persons, seeking by secret means
what they have no business to know, came to be
called eavesdroppers.
EDICT
The root of this word is the Latin
dicere, speak; united
with the prefix e, meaning out, to come forth, it
produced edicere,
meaniiig to proclaim, to
speak out with authority. It came in time to be
applied to the legal pronouncements of a sovereign
or ruler speaking in his own name and out of his own
authority. When a Grand Master issues a certain
official proclamation in his own name and out of the
authority vested in his office it is an edict.
EMBLEM
This beautiful and significant word, so familiar to
Masons, has historical affiliations with the
original idea embodied in "mosaic work," on
whch something is said
below. Emblem is derived from the Greek prefix en,
meaning in, united with ballein,
meaning cast, put. The word became applied to raised
decorations on pottery, to inlay work, tessellated
and mosaic work; and since such designs were nearly
always formal and symbolical in character, emblem
came to mean an idea expressed by a picture or
design. As Bacon put it, an emblem represents an
intellectual conception in a sensible image. It
belongs to that family of words of which type,
symbol, figure, allegory, and metaphor are familiar
members.
ESOTERIC
This is the opposite of exoteric. The root of it is
the Greek eso, within.
It means that which is secret, in the inner circle.
Exoteric is that which is outside. In Masonry the
"esoteric work" is that part of the Ritual which it
is illegal to publish, while the exoteric is that
part which is published in the Monitor.
FELLOW
In Anglo Saxon lagu
(from which we have "law") meant that which was
permanently ordered, fixed, set;
fe meant property;
fela suggested
properties set together, in other words, a
partnership. From this we have "fellow," a
companion, mate, partner, an equal, a peer. A man
became a "fellow" in a Medieval guild or corporation
when admitted a member on the same terms as all
others, sharing equally in the duties, rights, and
privileges. In Operative Masonry, in order to be a
fellow a man had to be a Master Mason, in the sense
of having passed through his apprenticeship, so that
Masters were fellows and fellows were Masters. Prior
to about 1740 "Fellow of the Craft" and "Master
Mason" referred to the same grade or degree, but at
about that year a new division in ranking was made,
and "Fellow Craft" was the name given to the Second
Degree in the new system, Master Mason to the Third.
FORM
We speak of the "form of the Lodge," "due form,"
etc. The word is derived from the Latin forma, which
meant the shape, or figure, or frame of anything;
also it was used of a bench, or seat, whence the old
custom of calling school benches "forms." It is the
root of formal, formation, informal, and scores of
other English words equally familiar. The "form of
the Lodge" is its symbolical shape; a ceremony is in
"due form" if it have the officially required
character or framework of words and actions.
FORTITUDE
The key to the meaning of this magnificent word lies
in its derivation from the Latin fords, meaning
strong, powerful, used in the Middle Ages of a
stronghold, or fort. Force, enforce, fortify,
fortification, forceful, are from the same root. A
man of fortitude has a character built strong like a
fort, which can be neither taken by bribe nor
over-thrown by assault, however strong may be the
enemy, or however great may be the suffering or
deprivation within. One is reminded of Luther's
great hymn, "A mighty fortress is our God."
FRATERNITY
This the most prized, perhaps, of all words in
Masonry, harks back to the Latin
frater, which is so
closely allied to "brother," as already noted in the
paragraph on that word. It gives us
fra,
frater, fraternize, and
many other terms of the same import. A fraternity is
a society in which the members strive to live in a
brotherly concord patterned on the family relations
of blood brothers, where they are worthy of the tie.
To be fraternal means to treat another man as if he
were a brother in the most literal sense.
GAGE
Gage (also spelled “gauge”) has an uncertain
ancestry. Early French and English peoples had
gauger,
gagen, etc., which
referred to the measuring of wine casks; some
believe our “gallon” and “gill” to have been thus
derived. Its meaning became enlarged to include any
kind of measuring, literally or figuratively. The
instrument used to do the measuring came to be
called “the gage.” Among Operative Masons it was
used to measure a stone for cutting to the required
“twenty-four-inch gage” is such a measuring rod or
stick marked off into twenty-four inches.
GEOMETRY
It is unfortunate that for most men schoolroom
drudgery has robbed this beautiful word of its
poetry. The Greek geo (in compounds) was earth,
land; metron was
measure. The original geometer was a
landmeasurer, a
surveyor, but his methods became broadened and
applied to many other kinds of problems, so that at
last his craft became a portion of the art of
mathematics. Geometry, that branch of mathematics
which deals with figures in space, is associated in
every Mason’s mind with the immortal Euclid, who
figures 50 prominently in all the ancient Masonic
manuscripts. It achieved its great place in
Freemasonry because of its constant and prime
importance in the builders’ art. Symbolically
speaking geometry (to it the Letter G originally
referred), consists of all those fixed principles
and laws of morality and of thought to which a right
char-acter and a true
mind adjust themselves.
GRAMMAR
The Greeks had graphein,
to write, or draw (from this we have graphic,
engrave, etc.) ; gramma
was that which was written or drawn. Grammar now
refers only to the skeletonal
framework of language, its parts of speech and their
combinations, hut formerly it included all forms of
learning based’ on language, such as rhetoric and
what is now taught in the schools as English; by the
time our Monitor was written, however, grammar and
rhetoric had become differentiated, nevertheless the
Monitorial portion of the Second Degree makes it
plain that a Fellow Craftis
expected to be a literate man, knowing something of
the arts of language in both speaking and writing.
In interpreting the Second Degree this wide meaning
of “grammar must be kept in mind.
GRAND
Grandis in the Latin
meant great, large, awesome, especially in the sense
of imposing; it was afterwards applied to the aged,
the ripe in experience, an application easy enough
to understand when one recalls the reverence paid by
the Romans to seniority, long
experi-ence, etc. this latter meaning appears
in our grandfather, grandmother, grandsire, etc. In
English the word developed in two directions, one
toward that which is great, large, awe-in-spiring,
as in “grandeur,” the other toward dignity, exalted
power. Our own use of the term in “Grand” Lodge,
“Grand” East, “Grand” Master, harks back to the
latter of the two usages. The head of the Craft is
called “Grand”’ Master because he is its most
exalted official.
GRIP
Grip, grope, grab, grasp, gripe came the same roots.
The Anglo Saxon gripe meant to clutch, to lay hold
of, to seize, to grasp strongly. A grip means to
clasp another’s hand firmly; it differs from a mere
hand. clasp, which may be a meaningless formality.
in that it is done earnestly, and for a purpose—for
what purpose in our fraternal system every Mason
knows. A grip should be giver. as if one meant it;
half of its meaning lies in the way it is done.
HIGH
TWELVE
The Latin nonus referred
to the ninth hour of the day, that is, nine hours
after sunrise. In the Medieval church it referred to
the middle hour between midday and sunset, that is,
about three o’clock P.M. In the course
ot time it came to refer
to any part of the middle of the day, and finally to
twelve o’clock. The origin of our “High Twelve” is
uncertain, but it is probable that it goes back to a
time before “noon" was generally used for twelve
o’clock; the “high” doubtless refers to the sun,
which at that time was at its highest point in the
sky.
HOODWINK
“Hood” goes back to old German and Anglo Saxon, in
which it referred to head covering, as in hat, hood,
helmet, etc.; “wink,” in the same languages, meant
to close the eyes, “wench,” “wince,” etc., being
similarly derived. A hoodwink was therefore a
headdress designed to cover the eyes. The popular
use of the word is believed to go back to the old
sport of falconry, once so popular, in which the
falcon had a hood over its eyes until ready to
strike at its prey.
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INITIATION
The Latin initium means beginning, as in our
initial”; initiatus, the
participle from the verb
initiare, referred to any act incident to the
beginning or introduction of a thing. The word came
widely into use in mysteries and sacred rites,
whence it has come into our 4Masonic nomenclature.
Back of it, as used by us, is the picture of birth,
so that the Masonic initiation means that a
candidate has been born into the Masonic life,
making the same kind of beginning therein that a
babe makes when born into the world.
INSTALLATION
Stallum was the Late
Latin for place, or seat, or proper position, which
meaning is preserved in our English “stall.” To
“install” therefore means that one has been placed
in his seat or station—the "in" meaning here the
same as in English. A Masonic installation is a
ceremony by which an elected officer is officially
placed in the seat to which his brethren have
elected him.
LABOR
The Latin labor meant toil, work, the put-ting forth
of effort; it appears to be akin to
robur, or strength,
preserved in our “robust.” While labor and work are
used interchange-ably, the latter is a more generic
word, and admits of a much wider range of uses. Work
may be either hard or easy but labor is always hard;
work is used of all sorts of effort; labor refers
generally to muscular effort, followed by fatigue.
When labor is kept up unremittingly it is toil; and
when toil is uninteresting, uninspiring, and poorly
paid it is drudgery. When working, one’s ambition is
to succeed with it; when laboring, one looks forward
to resting from it; hence, it is from labor that we
seek refreshment, not from work.
LANDMARK
In the early Anglo Saxon, German, or Scandinavian
languages the noun “land” meant the same as in
modern English, although as a verb it meant “come to
land,” a meaning reflected in our custom of saying a
man lands from a ship, etc. “Mark” is found in
almost all European languages, and derives from the
Latin margo, edge,
boundary, whence our margin, mark, and cognate
terms. A “landmark” is some mark, line or object to
indicate a boundary. The landmarks of Masonry are
those principles by which the Craft is bounded, that
is, marked off from all other societies and
associations and with-out which it would lose its
identity.
LEGEND
The Greeks had legein,
speak; the Latins
legere, read; from these
we have legend, lecture, etc. In the early Christian
church the legend was the Scripture selection read
in a church service; later the term became
ap-plied to stories
about the lives of the saints, especially to their
wonders and miracles. The famous “Golden Legend,” a
collection of such stories, was one of the most
popular books of the Middle Ages. Legend’, as now
used, is a story without historical foundations but
told in the form of history, hence our “Legend of
the Third Degree,” a narrative in dramatic form that
Masons have long understood to be non-historical.
LEVEL
In Latin libra was a
balance, the root of our libration, equilibrium;
libella was the
diminutive form of the same word, and from it has
come our level, an instrument by which a balance is
proved, or by which may be detected the horizontal
plane. It is closely as-sociated
in use with the plumb, by which a line perpendicular
to the horizontal is proved. The level is that on
which there are no in-equalities, hence in Masonry
it is correctly used’ as a symbol of equality. “We
meet upon the level” because Masonic rights, duties,
and privileges are the same for all members with-out
distinction.
LIGHT
A candidate is “brought to light.” “Let there be
light” is the motto of the Craft. It is one of the
key words of Masonry. It is very ancient, harking
back to the Sanskrit ruc,
meaning shine. The Greeks had
luk, preserved in many English words,
especially such as have leuco
in their make-up, as in “leucocyte,”
a white blood corpuscle. The
Latins had luc or
lux in various forms,
whence our light, lucid, luminous, illumine, lunar,
lightning, etc. The word means bright, clear,
shining, and is associated in its use with the sun,
moon, fire, etc. By an inevitable
asso-ciation the word
came into metaphorical use to mean the coming of
truth and knowledge into the mind. ‘When a candidate
ceases to be ignorant of Masonry, when through
initiation the truths of Masonry have found entrance
into his mind, he is said to be “enlightened” in the
Masonic sense.
LIBERTINE
Liber was the Latin for
“free,” as in our liberty, liberal, etc. When the
Romans gave a slave his freedom he was called
libertus, so that in
Roman history a libertine was a freed-man. In
theology a libertine came to mean one who holds
loose views, a freethinker; in morality, a
licenticus person, one
who flouts moral laws. Whether the early Masons used
“libertine” to mean a “freethinker” or a licentious
man, is a point that has never been decided’; in
practice, they probably used it in both senses.
LODGE
This word comes from the Old French, English and
Medieval Latin, and meant
gen-erally a hut, a cottage, a gallery, a
covered way, etc.; our “lobby” had the same
beginning. How the Operative Masons came to employ
the term, and just what they meant by it, has never
been determined; they had a symbolic Lodge, their
building was a Lodge, the group of members was a
Lodge, an as-sembly of
Masons was a Lodge, and often times the whole body
of Masons was called a Lodge. In our own usage the
word has three technical meanings; the place where
Masons meet, the assembly of the brethren duly
congregated for labor, and a piece of furniture.
MASON
This is a word from the Middle Ages, with an
uncertain origin. The old Gothic
maitan meant to hew, or
cut, and it is supposed the word carried that
general meaning through Medieval Latin, English,
German, and in the Scandinavian languages. If at
first it was used only of a stone-cutter, it came
later to mean a builder. Why the Operatives were
called “Freemasons” is still an unsolved puzzle; the
most likely view is that they were a society of
builders free to move from one place to another in
contrast to the gild Masons who were confined in
their labors to one community. In our Fraternity a
Mason is a builder of manhood and brotherhood.
MASTER
The Latin root mag had
the general meaning of great—as in “magnitude”; it
was the source of the Latin magister, head, chief,
principal, the word of which “magistrate” was made.
During the Middle Ages it fell into use as a
conventional title applied to persons in superior
rank, preserved in our own familiar “mister,” always
written “Mr”, a
colloquial form of “master.” Also it came to be
used’ of a man who had overcome the difficulties in
learning an art, thereby proving himself to be
greater than his task, as when it is said of an
artist who has overcome all the obstacles and
difficulties of painting, “He is a master.” A Master
Mason is so called because be has proved himself
capable of mastering the work; also because he
belongs to a Degree so named.
MONITOR
The Latin monere meant
to warn; it was the root of our admonish,
admonition, etc.; a monitor was the man who did the
warning. The term became widely used in early school
systems of the senior pupils in a class whose duty
it was to instruct his juniors; from this it passed
to include the book, the blackboard and other
instruments used by him in his teachings. Our use of
it carries this last mean-ing;
the Masonic Monitor is a book for teaching a
candidate the exoteric work.
MOSAIC
This word has nothing to do with Moses. Its root was
the Greek mousa, a muse,
sug-gesting something
artistic. The same root appears in our “museum,”
literally a place where artistic work is exhibited.
Through the Latin it came into modern languages and
during the Middle Ages became narrowed down to mean
a pattern formed by small pieces of inlay, a form of
decorative work much in vogue during the time of the
Opera-tive Masons. Our
“mosaic pavement is so called because it consists of
an inlay pattern, small black and white squares
alternating to suggest day and night.
MYSTERY
This word is used in Masonry in two senses entirely
different; indeed, though spelled and pronounced the
same, they are really two words. “Mystery” in the
sense of strange, unknown, weird, secret, hails from
the Greek, .in which muein
meant to close the eyes, lips and ears; from this
came musterion, a secret
ceremony or doctrine, appearing in Latin as
mysterium. The word
mystery, thus derived, means secrecy,
hiddenness, and is
properly used of the esoteric elements in Masonry.
But in the phrase “arts, parts and mysteries” the
word is from the Latin
ministerium, having the meaning of trade,
art, craft, occupation, etc., preserved in the
familiar metier from the
French, often used as an English word, and the much
more familiar “minister,” “ministry,” etc.; in this
sense -- the sense most often used in our Craft the
“mysteries of Masonry” are its workings, just as the
mysteries of Operative Masonry were its trade
secrets known only to those trained and skilled in
the building arts. In the latter of the two senses
“mystery” and “master” (see above) are closely
affiliated in origin, a master being one who has
become completely skilled in mysteries.
MYSTIC
In the Greek, muster was one who had been initiated.
Originally, so Jane Harrison believes, the root
word referred to pollution; but inasmuch as the
Greek mysteries had for their aim the removal of
moral pollution, the word became generally
associated with the mysteries themselves, and at
last was used to signify a man who had gone through
them. Mystic in our own use of it, as in “Mystic
Tie,” refers not to the mysterious in Freemasonry,
or to any mysticism in it, but to the fact of our
being a secret society, practicing
initiaton.
OBLIGATION
Obligate and oblige are sister words, deriving from
the same Latin root, ob, a prefix meaning before, or
about; and ligare,
meaning bind, as in our ligament. An obligation is a
tie, or pledge, or bond’ by which a man is tied to
his fellows, or gives his word to perform certain
duties. Accordingly we have obliging, referring to
one who is willing to bind himself to do something
for you, obligatory, etc. The obligation is the tie,
or bond, itself; in Masonry a formal and voluntary
pledge on the candidate’s part by virtue of which he
is accepted as a responsible member of the family of
Masons.
OBLONG
This has long been a puzzle word in Masonic
nomenclature. How, it is asked, can a square be
oblong, when a square is equal on all its sides? The
answer is that in this connection “square” is used
in the sense of rectangle; the angles are squared,
not the sides. Oblong is derived from ob, near, or
before, and longus,
long; that is, it means something approximately
long, so that the main axis is much longer than the
others, as a slender leaf, a shaft, etc. An “oblong
square is a rectangle of which two opposite sides
are much longer than the other two. The Lodge
symbolically is an oblong square in this sense.
OPERATIVE
We distinguish Operative Masons, builders of the
Middle Ages, founders of Masonry, from
Spectulative Masons,
present members of the Fraternity, using the
builders’ tools as emblems and symbols. The Latin
for toil, or work, was opus, still used’ in that
form in English to signify a musical or literary
achievement. Opus was the root of
operari, to work, whence
we have our operate, operative, operation, opera,
operator, and many others. The Operative Mason was
one who toiled at building in the plain, literal
sense of the word. “Speculative” will be explained
farther down.
ORNAMENT
Ornare was the Latin
verb meaning to adorn, to equip, of which the noun
was ama-men turn,
trappings, embellishment, furniture, etc., from
which was derived our “adorn-ment”
and “ornament.” In church usage “ornaments” was the
name given to all the equipment used in the services
of divine worship. We speak of the mosaic pavement,
the indent-ed
tessel, and blazing star
as “ornaments of the Lodge;” whether the term was
used by Lodges originally because they were
considered to be adornments, or because they were
part of the Lodge equipment it is
impos-sible to say,
though the latter alternative
ap-pears to be the more likely.
PASSWORD
The Latin passus meant
pace, step, track, passage; it contains the picture
of a path, road, aisle, or door through which one
can make his way, hence our “pass,” derived from it.
From it also we have our word “pace.” A password is
any agreed word or counter-sign that permits one to
pass through an en-trance or passage otherwise
closed.
PENALTY
It is significant that our “penal” derives from the
Latin for pain, paena,
the root of our penance, penalty, penitence,
penitentiary. punish, primitive, pine, and a circle
of similar English words. It has the meaning of pain
inflicted for the purpose of correction, discipline,
or protecting society, never the
inflic-tion of pain for
its own sake. Our own penalties are symbolical in
form, their language being derived from early
English forms of punishment for heresy and treason.
PILLAR
The Latin pila was a
pile,—such as a pile under a house—a pier, a pillar,
or a mole,— the last named a massive stonework
enclosing a harbor. In ancient times pillars were
used for all manner of religious and symbolical
purposes, as when Jacob erected a pillar at a grave,
or Solomon set up two great pillars— the prototype
of ours—on the Porch before his Temple. (See in
connection with this the notes on “column” given
above.)
PLUMB
Plumbum was the Latin
for lead, and was used also of a scourge with a blob
of lead tied to it, of a line with a lead ball at
its end for testing perpendicularity, etc., the
source of our plumb, plumber, plunge, plump,
plumbago, plummet, etc.
A plumb-line is accordIngly
a line, or cord, with a piece of lead at the bottom
to pull it taut, used to test vertical walls with
the line of gravity, hence, by a simple expansion of
reference, an emblem of uprightness.
Up means up, right means straight; an upright man is
one who stands straight up and down, doesn’t bend or
wabble, has no crooks in
him, like a good solid wall that won’t cave in
urnkr pressure.
PROFANE
This has a technical meaning in Masonry,
nevertheless it adheres closely to the original
significance of the word. Fanum
was the Latin for temple; pro meant “before,” in the
sense of “outside of.” It is the picture of man
standing on the outside, not permitted to enter. It
has tlfis same sense in
Masonry; the “profane” are those men and women who
stand outside of Masonry. The word here, of course,
has nothing to do with profanity in the sense of
sacrilegious language.
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QUALIFICATION
Qualify comes from the same word as quality. The
root of it is the Latin qua, preserved in our
“what.” The quality of a thing was its
whatness, the stuff of
which it was made, its nature. The
fy in “qualify” is from
facere, to make, so that
“qualify” means that a thing is made of the required
stuff; and qualification means the act by which a
thing is made of the required nature, or is declared
to have it. The candidate for the Degrees of Masonry
must possess certain characteristics in his nature;
must be a man of lawful age, etc., and these are his
qualifications.
QUARRY
The Latin quadratum was
a square; originally, quadrate and quarry meant the
same. The word became applied’ to the pit from which
rock is hewn because the principal task of workmen
therein was to cut, or square, the stones; hence,
literally a quarry is a place where stone-squaring
is done. In Masonry “quarry” sometimes refers to the
rock pits from which Solomon’s workmen hewed out the
stones for his Temple; at other times it refers to
the various arenas of Masonic activities, as when it
is said of an active Lodge member that “he is a
faithful laborer in the quarry.”
RAISE
In the Anglo Saxon arisan
was used of any motion up or down, but in English it
became used only of an upward motion, as in arise,
rising, raise, rear, etc. Raise means to hoist, or
carry, or lift, a body upward in space. There is no
need to explain to a Mason why it is said of a
candidate who has completed the Third Degree that he
has been “raised,” or why the climactic ceremony in
that Degree is described as “raising.” One is
“initiated” an Entered Apprentice, “passed” a
Fellowcraft, “raised” a
Master Mason.
REFRESHMENT
Friscus, or
frescus, in the Latin
had the meaning of new, fresh, recent; the re meant
again; so that refresh means to renew, to make over,
to undo the ravages of use and time, in
Shakespeare’s phrase, “to knit up the raveled sleeve
of care.” To “pass from labor to refreshment” is to
find rest and recreation so as to undo the wearing
effects of toil, as when a laborer knocks off at
noon to eat his lunch and have a rest.
REGULAR
The Latin rex, king,
sovereign, ruler, was a root from which many words
have sprung, regal, royal, etc.; the
Latins themselves had
regula, or rule, and
regere, to rule or
govern. From this source has come our “regular.” It
means a rule established on legitimate authority. In
Masonry “regular” is applied to those rules which
have been established by Grand Lodges and Grand
Masters. A “regular Lodge” is one that conforms to
Grand Lodge requirements; a “regular Mason” is the
mem-ber of such a Lodge
who conforms to its laws and by-laws.
RIGHT
This, one of the noblest words in the English
language, is also one of the oldest, being found in
the very ancient Sanskrit in the form
raj meaning rule. It
appeared in Latin as rectus, meaning direct,
straight, a rule,— rule being used in the sense of
our ruler, a device for drawing a line which is the
shortest distance between two points. Such words as
regent, rail, direct, rector, rectify, rule, came
from this Latin term. Right means “straight,” as in
a “right line,” a “right angle,” etc.; through a
familiar metaphorical application it has come to
stand for conduct in conform-ity
with moral law. Our “rights” are those privileges
which strict law allows to us. A “horizontal” is a
right line on the level; a perpendicular” is a right
line up and down, or at right angles to the
horizontal. “Right” and “regular,” discussed just
above, origi-nally were
close together in meaning.
RITUAL
A ritual is a system of rites. “Rite,” like “right,”
is very old; it has been traced to the if Sanskrit
riti, meaning usage,
which in turn was derived from
ri, meaning flow, suggesting the regular
current of river. In Latin this became
ritus meaning in general
a custom, more particularly a religious custom, or
usage. In taking over this word the church applied
it to the acts in solemn religious services which
had to be performed according to strict rules. In
Masonry the ritual is the prescribed set of
ceremonies used for the purpose of initiation. It
should be noted that a set of ceremonies does not
become a ritual until it has been prescribed by some
official authority.
SEAL
This, like our words “sign” and “insignia,” is
derived from the Latin sigillum,
diminu-tive of
signum, meaning a mark,
or sign. It is some kind of device affixed to a
document in place of a signature or in close
connection with a signature for the purpose of
showing that the document is regular or official. A
document bearing the seal of a Lodge shows that it
is officially issued by the Lodge, and not by some
irresponsible person or persons. The word is also
used of the tool by means of which the device is
stamped into wax, or whatever similar material may
be used for the purpose.
SECRECY
From Se, apart, and cernere,
separate, the Latins had
secretum, suggesting
something separated from other things, apart from
com-mon
kndwledge, hidden,
covered, isolated, hence “secrecy.” There is a
fundamental difference between “secret” and
“hidden,” far whereas the latter may mean that
nobody knows where a thing is, nothing can be secret
e without at least one person knowing it. The
secrets of Freemasonry are known to all Masons,
therefore are not hidden; they are secrets only in
the sense that they are not known to profanes. A
similar word is “occult,” which means a thing
naturally secret, one, as it were, that secretes
itself, so that few can know about it. See also the
paragraphs on “clandestine” and “mystery” in the
preceding pages. There is also another less familiar
word in Masonry meaning hidden, covered up,
concealed, secret; it is pronounced “hail” but is
spelled “hele.”
SECRETARY
The present use of this word has departed widely
from its original meaning. The Latin
secretus meant secret,
private; secretarium was
a conclave, a caucus, a council behind closed doors,
consequently a secretarius
was some very confidential officer, and was used of
a secretary in our sense, of a notary, a scribe,
etc. Since the handling of
correspon-dence and the keeping of records is
usually a confidential service the man who does it
has come to be called a secretary. The secretary of
a Lodge cares for all its correspondence and its
records.
SIGN
This comes from the Latin
signum, a word which appears in a dozen or
more English words, as signature, signet, signify,
consign, countersign, resign, etc. Where a seal is
used principally on documents and for the purpose of
showing them to be official, sign is used much more
variously and widely; it is some kind of gesture,
device, mark, or design which indicates something,
or points to something, and which often has a
meaning known only to the initiated. Masonic signs
are gestures that convey a meaning which only Masons
understand, and which most frequently are used for
purposes of recognition.
SPECULATIVE
The Latin specere meant
to see, to look about; specula was a watchtower, so
called because from it one could look about over a
wide territory. It came to be used metaphorically of
the mental habit of noting all the aspects of a
subject; also, as applied to
theo-retical knowledge as opposed to
practical skill. “Speculative Masonry” was knowledge
of the science, or theory, of building; “Operative
Masonry,” trained skill in putting that knowledge
into practice. ‘When Operative Masonry was dropped
out of the Craft in the eighteenth century, only the
speculative ele-ments
remained and these became the basis of our present
Fraternity. It is for this reason that we continue
to describe it as Speculative Masonry. The word has
nothing to do with philosophical speculation, or
with theorizing merely for its own sake.
SQUARE
As noted in the paragraph on “quarry” the Latin quad
ratum was a square.
Quatuor meant “four;”
from it we have square, four, quad, quadrangle,
squadron, etc. In geometry I a square is a
four-sided straight-lined figure having all its
sides equal and all its angles right angles; and
since early carpenters and Masons had to use an
instrument for proving the angles to be right, they
fell into the habit of calling that instrument a
square. In Ma-sonry the
square is used in at least three distinct senses; as
a sharp instrument, as a working tool, and as a
symbol, the last named when used with the compasses
on the Holy Bible. As a symbol it refers to the
earth, for so long a time supposed to be square in
shape; as a working tool, it refers to all those
forces by means of which one prepares himself to fit
into his own proper place in the Brotherhood, like a
Perfect Ashlar in a
wall.
STEWARD
This came into general use through the church, in
which it was adopted as the name for an important
official and also for an important theological
doctrine; the doctrine of stewardship. The word
itself had a peculiar origin. In Anglo Saxon
stigo was a sty or place
in which domestic animals were kept; I
weard (see “warden” on
following page) was a guard, or keeper; therefore
the steward was the keeper of the cattle pens. Its
meaning became enlarged to include the duties of
general over-seer, one who is in charge of a
household or estate for another; and still more
generally, one who provides for the needs for food,
money, and supplies. In the history of Ma-sonry
the office of steward has performed a variety of
functions; the caring of funds, distribution of
charity, preparing for banquets and similar
services.
SUBLIME
Sublimis, in Latin,
referred to something high, lofty, exalted, like a
city set on top of a hill, or an eagle’s nest atop
some lonely crag. It refers to that which is
eminent, of superlative degree, moral grandeur,
spiritual exaltation. Inasmuch as the Third Degree
is at the top of the system of Ancient Craft
Masonry, it is known as “The Sublime Degree.
SUMMONS
Like the word monitor, explained some pages back,
summons is derived from the Latin term of which the
verb was monere, meaning
to warn, or to remind, as in “admonish ;“ the “sum”
is the combining form of sub, under, or privy to, in
the secret of, as in the old phrase “sub
rosa.” A summons is an
official call sent out by persons in authority to
some person acknowledging that authority to appear
at some place, or to perform some duty; in other
words a person who is “on the inside,” who is a
member, is admonished by his superiors, and must
obey under penalty. The duty involved and the
penalty attached distinguishes a summons from a mere
invita-tion. A Lodge,
Grand Lodge, or some official issues a summons; a
fellow Mason not in official position makes a sign;
a Mason is under obligation to respond to either, if
it be due, official, or regular.
SYMBOL
It is interesting to compare this word with “emblem”
with which it is so often confused. The Greek
symbolon was a mark, or
sign, or token, or tally; it is derived from sun,
togeth-er, and
ballein, put, or throw,
from which we have ball, ballistics, etc.
Symbolon indicated two
things put together, thrown together, or matched
together. If, for example, the numeral 9 is matched
to a pile of marbles, one to one, the 9 is a symbol
of the number of marbles. From this came the custom
of calling a symbol some object, device, design,
picture, etc., used not for its own sake, but for
the purpose of referring to some other, and per-haps
very different, thing with which it has been
associated. It is any visible, audible, or tangible
object used to typify some idea, or truth, or
quality, as when a wedding ring is made the symbol
of marriage, the square is made the symbol of the
earth, or the cross is made the symbol of
Christianity, the crescent of Mohammedanism, etc.
TEMPLE
The Greeks had temenos,
a sacred enclosure, a plot of ground marked off to
be a holy place; the Latins
had templum, a
consecreated place. A
temple is a building set apart because it is holy,
dedicated to religious uses. It has its place in
Masonry largely because of the prominence of
Solomon’s Temple in the Ritual. It is interesting to
note that in Masonic nomenclature the ideal life,
here and hereafter, is described metaphorically as a
temple, one of a thousand examples of the extent to
which Freemasonry is saturated with religious
language and emotions.
TILER
Also spelled “tyler.” In
the Latin tegere (from
which came “thatch”) meant cover, roof;
tegulae were the tiles,
pieces, slabs, used for roof-coverings. A
tiler, therefore, is one
who makes, or fastens on, tiles. Since in Operative
Masonry the tiler was
the workman who closed the building in, and hid its
interior from outside view, the guardian of the
entrance to the Lodge was figuratively called by
this name. It was once supposed that “tiler”
came from the French tailleur,
a cutter, a hewer (from whence we have “tailor”),
and it was accordingly spelled “tyler;”
that, however, is incorrect, “tiler”
being the correct spelling.
TOKEN
This is from the Greek deigma..
meaning example, or proof—the origin of the word
“teach,” and in its orginal
sense had much the same meaning as sign and symbol,
for it was an ob5ect used as the sign of something
else. It is generally used, however, in the sense of
a pledge or of an object that proves something. In
our usage a token is something that exhibits, or
shows, or proves that we are Masons—the grip of
recognition, for example.
VOUCH
This harks back to the Latin
vocare, to call, to summon, and is the origin
of voice, vouchsafe, vocation (in the sense of a
“calling”), vocal, etc. To vouch is to raise one s
voice in testimony, to bear witness, to affirm, to
call to witness. If we vouch for a brother we raise
the voice to testify that we know him to be a
regular Mason.
WAGES
Wage, of which wages is the collective plural,
remotely descended from the Latin vas, having the
meaning of pledge, security, pawn, or a promise to
pay backed up by security. After it entered into
modem languages it had a peculiar history; it became
“gage,” a pledge or pawn, appearing in our engage,
disengage, etc., but having no relation with gage,
one of our Working Tools; “wager" in the sense of a
bet; in another context it became “wed,” the act of
marrying, so called because of the pledges given;
and “wage” in the sense of compensation for service
given. An “allowance” is a one-sided form of
payment, depending on the will of the giver; a
“stipend” is a fixed sum, usually nominal, and is
supposed to be paid as per a permanent arrangement;
a “salary” (from sal, or
salt, the old pay given soldiers) is an amount fixed
by contract, and estimated over a relatively long
period of time, year or month; “wages” are paid to
laborers over short periods of time, or at the
completion of the required task. In Speculative
Masonry the Master Mason symbolically receives
“wages,” rather than salary, because they represent
the rewards that come to him as rapidly as he does
his work; and, as the etymology of the word
suggests, they are certain, something one may bank
on.
WARDEN
“Ward” is of Medieval origin, having been used in
early English, French, German, etc., always in the
sense of to guard something, a meaning preserved in
warden, guard, guardian, wary, ware, ward, etc. A
warden is guardian of the west gate of the Temple,
the Junior Warden of the south gate.
WARRANT
This also derives from the same source, and carries
the general meaning of “to de-fend,” “to guard.”
Warrant is sometimes used as a pledge of security;
in Masonry it is a document officially issued to
authorize the formation of a Lodge, and consequently
acts as the pledge, or security, for the future
activity of it.
WORK
The idea behind this noble old word is one that has
powerfully appealed to all European peoples and is
found in nearly every Euro-pean
language. The Greek ergon
meant work, organ on. was the instrument by which
work was done; from this source we have energy,
organ, erg, and it appears in combination in such
words as metallurgy. To work means to put forth
effort in order to accomplish something; play is
also a putting forth of effort, but in that case the
effort is its own end, and is done for its own sake.
Work has an end beyond itself. The official ritual
of the Lodge is called the Standard Work; it came to
be so called by analogy, the ritual of Speculative
Masonry corresponding to the daily labor of the
Operative Masons.
WORSHIPFUL
The Anglo Saxon worth was something honorable,
deserving of respect, a meaning that shows up in
worth, the value of anything, also in worship, which
is deference paid to some object or person of great
importance. Worshipful describes something full of
the qualities calling for such deference. It was
used in Medieval times of one’s parents, officers of
the state, prelates, etc., signifying that such
persons were of high station or entitled to
deferential respect. It is so used in our term,
“Worshipful Master.”
