What does cowan mean?
"Cowan" is a noun used almost entirely within Freemasonry to denote a person who is not a member of the craft — in other words, an outsider to the Masonic fraternity. The word appears chiefly in Masonic ritual and traditional texts, where lodges are said to guard against admission of "cowans and eavesdroppers," meaning both the uninitiated and those who might improperly listen in on proceedings. Outside of Masonic circles it is rarely encountered and would be unfamiliar to most English speakers, though it occasionally appears in historical writing about secret societies. Its connotations are neutral-to-slightly-guarded: a cowan is not necessarily hostile, merely uninitiated, though older usage could shade toward suspicion of impostors. The word's origin is uncertain, but it has been part of Masonic vocabulary since at least the early modern period. For readers interested in the specialized vocabulary of fraternal organizations, "cowan" is a compact example of how such groups develop private terms to mark the boundary between insiders and outsiders.
nounA person who is not a member of the Freemasons; an outsider to the Masonic craft.
- A person who is not a Freemason; an unauthorized outsider to the Masonic fraternity.
"The Tyler checked that no cowan or eavesdropper was lingering near the lodge door before opening the meeting."
"No cowan may be admitted while the lodge is at work."
"Old Masonic rituals warn members against revealing the secrets of the craft to a cowan."
Standard regular plural; often appears in the set phrase 'cowans and eavesdroppers' in Masonic ritual.
"The old lectures warned that cowans should never learn the secrets of the lodge."
Freemasonry has its own special word for people like you — 'cowan' is what Masons call everyone who isn't one of them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cowan
The word "cowan" is first recorded in Scots in the early modern period, where it denoted an unskilled laborer or a mason who had not served a proper apprenticeship. It was adopted into Freemasonry, which inherited much of its terminology from the operative stonemasons' guilds of Scotland and England, coming to mean any non-Mason or unqualified outsider. The further etymological origin of the word is uncertain, and no secure cognates can be confidently identified.
How cowan is actually used
The word is almost exclusively found within Masonic contexts, particularly in ritual language and older Masonic texts; it is rare in general English and would be unfamiliar to most speakers. It carries no strong negative connotation today beyond simply marking someone as uninitiated, though historically it could imply an eavesdropper or impostor.
Easily confused with cowan
A coven is a gathering of witches, while a cowan is a non-Mason or outsider to Freemasonry.