maçon

See also: macon, Macon, Mâcon, and Macoń

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French maçon (“mason”) from Old French maçon, masson, machun (“brick-layer”), from Late Latin maciōnem, machiō (“carpenter, brick-layer”) (attested 7th century by Isidore de Séville), of Germanic origin, from a derivative of Frankish *makōn (“to build, make, work”), from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, mix, make”), conflated with Frankish *mati (“cutter”), from Proto-Germanic *matją, *mattjuk (“ploughshare, mattock”), from Proto-Indo-European *mat- (“hoe, mattock”). Akin to Old High German steinmezzo (“stone mason”), mahhōn (“to make, work”). More at make, mattock.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.sɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

maçon m (plural maçons, feminine maçonne)

1. mason, stonemason; builder
2. (Freemasonry) Mason, Freemason

Derived terms

• franc-maçon
• maçonnerie

Descendants

• Mauritian Creole: mason
• → Turkish: mason

Further reading

• “maçon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Alternative forms

• macon (older manuscripts)

Etymology

Old French maçon.

Noun

maçon m (plural maçons)

1. mason; builder

Descendants

• French: maçon

Old French

FWOTD – 23 August 2017

Alternative forms

• macon (manuscript form)

Etymology

From Late Latin maciō (“carpenter, bricklayer”), from a derivative of Frankish *makōn (“to work, build, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *mag- (“to knead, mix, make”), conflated with Frankish *mati (“cutter”), from Proto-Germanic *matją, *mattjuk (“ploghshare, mattock”), from Proto-Indo-European *mat- (“hoe, mattock”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈt͡sun/

Noun

maçon oblique singular, m (oblique plural maçons, nominative singular maçons, nominative plural maçon)

1. mason; builder
   • c. 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:

     Maçons fist querre et carpenters
     Si fist refaire les mousters

     He searched for masons and carpenters
     in order to rebuild the minsters.

Descendants

• Middle French: maçon
  • French: maçon
• → English: mason
• → Old Spanish: maçonero
  • Spanish: mazonero

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ma‧çon

Noun

maçon m (plural maçons)

1. Alternative form of mação