freemasonry

[ free-mey-suhn-ree ]

noun

1. secret or tacit brotherhood; fellowship; fundamental bond or rapport:

   the freemasonry of those who hunger for knowledge.

2. (initial capital letter) the principles, practices, and institutions of Freemasons.

freemasonry

¹

/ ˈfriːˌmeɪsənrɪ /

noun

1. natural or tacit sympathy and understanding

Freemasonry

²

/ ˈfriːˌmeɪsənrɪ /

noun

1. the institutions, rites, practices, etc, of Freemasons
2. Freemasons collectively

Word History and Origins

Origin of freemasonry¹

First recorded in 1400–50, freemasonry is from the late Middle English word fremasonry. See Freemason, -ry

Example Sentences

Johnson vows, at the beginning of the novel, to initiate his readers into the “freemasonry of the race.”

From The Daily Beast

Importantly, he makes clear the political and spiritual inclusiveness of Freemasonry, which is one of its greatest strengths.

From The Daily Beast

But there is something to praise: His attitude toward Freemasonry.

From The Daily Beast

In that freemasonry of the wilderness they dispensed with credentials, save those each man carried in his face and in his manner.

From Project Gutenberg

Be sure, therefore, that Freemasonry is a veil of the worst species of moral licence.

From Project Gutenberg

But such, in brief, is the deep mystery of Gibraltar, such is the Toxicological department of universal Freemasonry.

From Project Gutenberg

There is a freemasonry of dawning womanhood which starts into life everywhere.

From Project Gutenberg

True, in the accounts given by the Jewish Encyclopædia, the word Freemasonry is not once mentioned.

From Project Gutenberg