Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Masonry |
MasonryNoun1. Structure built of stone or brick by a mason. 2. Freemasons collectively. 3. The craft of a mason. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "masonry" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Etymology: Masonry \Ma"son*ry\, noun. [French expression ma[,c]onnerie.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Building | Walls built by a mason, using brick, stone, tile or similar materials. (references) |
Energy | Material such as brick, rock, or stone. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Masonry is commonly used for the walls of buildings, foundations, and monuments. Brick masonry is the most common type of masonry, and may be either solid or veneered.
Brick veneer construction has strength imparted by a framework of wood or a rough masonry wall of other material over which is placed a layer of bricks for weatherproofing and providing a finished appearance. The brick veneer wall is connected to the structural walls by "brick ties", metal strips that are attached to the structural wall as well as the mortal joints of the brick veneer wall. There is typically an air gap between the brick veneer wall and the structural wall. As brick is not completely waterproof, the structural wall has a waterproof surface (usually tar paper) and weeping holes are left at the base of the brick veneer wall to ventilate the air gap. Veneered walls are often superior to solid brick walls because the core can be given characteristics different from that of the masonry exterior. For example, reinforced concrete or steel provides better structural support for buildings, and insulation or utility lines can be more easily included inside the wall.
Solid brick masonry is made of two or more layers of bricks with the bricks running longitudinally (called "stretcher" bricks) bound together with bricks running transverse to the wall (called "header" bricks). Each row of bricks is known as a "course." The pattern of headers and stretchers employed gives rise to different bonds such as the common bond (with every sixth course composed of headers), the English bond, and the Flemish bond (with alternating stretcher and header bricks present on every course). There are no significant utilitarian differences between most bonds, but the appearance of the finished wall is affected.
Blocks of cinder concrete ("cinder blocks" or "breezeblocks"), ordinary concrete ("concrete blocks"), or hollow tile are generically known as "building blocks." They are usually much larger than ordinary bricks and so are much faster to lay for a wall of a given size. Furthermore, cinder and tile blocks have much lower water absorption than brick masonry. They are often used as the structural core for veneered brick masonry, or are used alone for the walls of factories, garages, and other "industrial" buildings where appearance is not a significant factor.
Stone blocks used in masonry can be "dressed" or "rough." Stone masonry where the blocks are dressed to flat surfaces is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly-shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Both rubble and ashlar masonry can be laid in courses (rows of even height) through the careful selection or cutting of stones, but a great deal of stone masonry is uncoursed.
Masonry is strong in compression (vertical loads), but is relatively weak when subject to tension or sideways loads, unless reinforced. Walls are often strengthened against sideways loads by thickening the entire wall, or by building masonry piers (vertical columns or ribs) at intervals.
The strength of a masonry wall is not entirely dependent on the bond between the building material and the mortar; the friction between the interlocking blocks of masonry is often strong enough to provide a great deal of strength on its own. The blocks sometimes have grooves or other surface features added to enhance this interlocking, and some masonry structures forego mortar altogether.
A crinkle-crankle wall is a brick wall that follows a serpentine path, rather than a straight line. This type of wall is more resistant to toppling than a straight wall.
Other masonry related terms: Abated
see also Stonemason, Freemasonry
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Masonry."
Synonym: MasonrySynonym: Freemasonry (n). (additional references) |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Architectural drawing for a commercial building with ashlar masonry. Front elevation rendering.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Native standing by Inca masonry wall, Cuzco, Peru.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Old Jewish masonry. Exterior of ancient Tower of Antonia - cemetery] / Bonfils.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Rhode Island, Newport--A.C. James home, "Suprise Valley", detail of masonry.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Rhode Island, Newport--A.C. James home, "Suprise Valley", detail of masonry with turret in background.Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Stairs and columns with brick masonry, remains of plantation house after fire, near Lutcher, Louisiana.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | In that dark masonry of evil of which she was a part, everything is known, secrets are kept, and each aids the other. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | In conjunction with the initial discussions in Mendoza, we found there was interest in light steel framing construction, primarily because of recent problems with the traditional concrete and masonry construction for dwellings. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Masonry" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.49% of the time. "Masonry" is used about 331 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.49% | 326 | 15,930 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.51% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Total | 100.00% | 331 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "masonry": cyclopean masonry ♦ Dry masonry ♦ masonry well ♦ monumental masonry ♦ rubble masonry. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "masonry": masonry-bridges, masonry-built, masonry-cum-earth. | |
Ending with "masonry": Free-masonry, state-masonry. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
masonry | 791 | kitchen masonry | 21 |
stone masonry | 118 | masonry anchor | 21 |
masonry tool | 69 | masonry simulated | 20 |
masonry fireplace | 67 | masonry design | 19 |
brick masonry | 64 | cordwood masonry | 19 |
masonry supply | 51 | masonry sealers | 19 |
masonry contractor | 50 | masonry work | 18 |
masonry saw | 50 | masonry restoration | 17 |
concrete masonry unit | 47 | masonry outdoor fireplace | 17 |
masonry block | 38 | masonry heater | 17 |
prince hall masonry | 38 | barbecue masonry | 16 |
masonry repair | 34 | masonry job | 15 |
masonry wall | 26 | masonry stove | 14 |
masonry product | 25 | masonry fastener | 13 |
masonry paint | 24 | box mail masonry | 13 |
masonry sealer | 23 | masonry blade | 13 |
masonry construction | 23 | masonry ottawa repair | 13 |
masonry home | 22 | arizona masonry | 12 |
concrete masonry | 22 | masonry school | 12 |
masonry drill bit | 21 | rock masonry | 12 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "masonry"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | mur (enclosure, inclosure, wall), masoneri, punë e muratorit, ndërtim (building, conformation, construction, erection, fabric, installations, structure, texture, upbuilding). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ماسونية, عمل البناء, البناءون الاحرار, بناء (building, erection, make, mason, structure). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | каменарство, зидарство, зидария. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 石工. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | zdivo (brickwork, shell), kamenictví. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | murværk (brickwork). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | metselwerk (brickwork). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | masonaĵo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | بناءی . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | muuraus (brickwork). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | maçonnerie. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Mauerwerk (brickwork, shell, stonework, walls). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | λιθοδομή (brickwork, stonework). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | בו ים "חפשים, ב ין (building, construction, erection, structure), ב אות (building, construction). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | kőművesség, kőművesmunka, falazat (rip-rap, walling), falazás (walling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | muratura (back, brickwork, pattern, walling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 石細工 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | いしざいく. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 석공 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | seyirsaght chloaie. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | asonrymay maçonaria, maçônico (masonic), alvenaria (brickwork, rubble). (various references) zidãrie (brickwork, structure), francmasonerie (freemasonry). (various references) каменная кладка (stonework), кирпичная кладка (brickwork), масонство. (various references) masonerija, zidarstvo (bricklaying). (various references) albañilería (brickwork), mampostería (brickwork, engineering structure, rubble work, works), fábrica (brickwork, fabric, factory, manufacture, mill, plant, structure, works). (various references) murverk (brickwork). (various references) masonluk, duvarcılık. (various references) кам'яна кладка, масонство. (various references) nghề thợ nề công trình nề. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | structura, structuram. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words ending with "masonry": freemasonry, stonemasonry. (additional references) | |
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"Masonry" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: maconry, mansonry, mansoori, mansory, Masnmr, masonary, masonery, Mazury. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "masonry" (pronounced mā"sunrē) |
| 5 | -s u n r ē | freemasonry. |
| 4 | -u n r ē | citizenry, falconry, weaponry. |
| 3 | -n r ē | Henry. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-m-n-o-r-s-y" | |
-1 letter: manors, mayors, morays, ramson, ransom, rayons, romans. | |
-2 letters: anomy, arson, manor, manos, mason, mayor, mayos, moans, monas, moras, moray, morns, mynas, nomas, norms, rayon, roams, roans, roman, sonar, yarns. | |
-3 letters: arms, army, mano, mans, many, mars, mayo, mays, moan, moas, mons, mony, mora, morn, mors, myna, naos, nary, nays, noma, noms, norm, nosy. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-m-n-o-r-s-y" | |
+1 letter: acronyms, paronyms, stramony. | |
+2 letters: astronomy, monastery, oysterman, parsimony. | |
+3 letters: disharmony, dynamotors, gastronomy, missionary, monolayers, myrobalans, paronymous, pyromanias, yeomanries. | |
+4 letters: freemasonry, matronymics, misanthropy, moneymakers, monocrystal, patronymics, pyromancies, pyromaniacs, salmonberry, sportsmanly, subnormally, trypanosome, uncustomary. | |
+5 letters: aerodynamics, aminopyrines, asynchronism, compensatory, consummatory, demonstrably, dynamometers, dysmenorrhea, eleemosynary, harmoniously, hydromancies, impersonally, membranously, microanalyst, monocrystals, overpayments, stonemasonry, subnormality, transmogrify, trypanosomes, voluntaryism. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4D 61 73 6F 6E 72 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-- .- ... --- -. .-. -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001101 01100001 01110011 01101111 01101110 01110010 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)M a s o n r y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004D 0061 0073 006F 006E 0072 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)47678581808491 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Orthography 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
