a person whose trade is building with units of various natural or artificial mineral products, as stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or tiles, usually with the use of mortar or cement as a bonding agent.
a person who dresses stones or bricks.
(initial capital letter) a Freemason.
Bobbie Ann, born 1940, U.S. short-story writer and novelist.
Charles, 1730–87, English astronomer and surveyor.
George, 1725–92, American statesman.
Lowell, 1792–1872, U.S. hymnist and educator.
Dame Sandra Prunella, born 1949, Barbadian politician: 1st president of Barbados since 2021.
a male given name.
a person skilled in building with stone
a person who dresses stone
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English machun, mason, from Old French machun, masson, from Frankish makjon (unrecorded) “maker,” derivative of makōn “to make”; see make 1
If you spent the summer building a beautiful stone wall around your backyard, you may have a future as a mason, someone who builds things out of brick or stone. Usage experts can’t quite agree on the origins of the word mason. Some believe that it traces back to the German word mahhon, meaning "to make." True or not, it’s a good way to remember the meaning of mason: masons make things out of brick or stone. A mason is a skilled craftsperson who might, for example, carve stone for a memorial or do work on the brick walls of a house.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Others include the adonis blue butterfly, the armed nomad bee and the red-tailed mason bee, the shining pot beetle and the large scabious mining bee.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
We see how the form of a finial was generated by the progressive subdivision of a square, precisely the same process by which the mason would incise and cut his stone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
I’ve done mason work and landscaping and stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
It’s a high-tech twist on the classic mason jar, using a silicone lid with a degassing valve and an AirGone Argon Gas Canister to flush out oxygen.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Her labeled mason jars lined the shelves of the kitchen, in sealed pyramids, enough, they’d agreed, to last for their grandchildren to taste.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
It was in part to this fear that George Mason referred when he insisted at the Constitutional Convention that any definition of impeachable conduct must cover “attempts to subvert the Constitution.”
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
The appeal states Mason was not "considered capable of international travel" and that a move from his current care environment "would likely result in a significant deterioration" in his physical and mental health.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Both sides hash it out at meetings of the fiscal court of Mason County, the primary government body overseeing the development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: "We are supporting Mr Mason and his family and are in contact with the Swedish authorities about his case."
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The next few minutes were a blur of crying and hollering and tattling and then I found myself sitting in front of Mr. Mason, the principal.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Before that he was a young boy, born on Halloween, frolicking among unmarked headstones as the son of funerary masons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Among the finds at the dig were a section of wall, cut stones with a masons mark, pottery, slate and a Henry III coin dating from around 1270.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2025
The team of masons, covered in dust and sweat, had been working in the ruins of the Altadena house for hours when a shout echoed across the wreckage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2025
Fiber reinforcement has been around since the first masons were mixing horsehair into their mud.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2023
"I assure you, there is nothing left but shards and dust. The masons have no idea how to repair it. The whole wall may have to be rebuilt."
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Each house had a paved “stoep” in front, with a masoned seat at either end.
From The White Hecatomb And other Stories by W. C. (William Charles) Scully
The masoned house it dinled through; It dung the ship, it cowped the coo'.
From Underwoods by Robert Louis Stevenson
No, no: nor was the Pyramid of Cheops masoned in a month; though, once built, the sands left by the deluge might not have submerged such a pile.
From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville
Most people, though, liken it, in that part, to a razed observatory, masoned up.
From I and My Chimney by Herman Melville
Simms keeps his valuable papers in the masoned safe at the bank, you know.
From Polly of Pebbly Pit by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
She was doing mason's work; and, once on that tack, guided by the unconscious impulse, she has to keep masoning, even though her labour be useless, superfluous and opposed to her interests.
From The Mason-Bees by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
No matter: the Bee who was masoning will mason.
From The Mason-Bees by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
A moment comes, presently, when the harvesting is interrupted and the masoning resumed.
From The Mason-Bees by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
