Table of Contents
Introduction & Top Questions
References & Edit History
Quick Facts & Related Topics
Read Next
Discover
Freemasonry
secret organization
Also known as: Free and Accepted Masons, Freemasons, order of
- Date:
- 1717 - present
Top Questions
What are the origins of Freemasonry?
What do Freemasons believe?
Does Freemasonry still exist today?
Freemasonry, the teachings and practices of the fraternal (men-only) order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society—an oath-bound society, often devoted to fellowship, moral discipline, and mutual assistance, that conceals at least some of its rituals, customs, or activities from the public (secret societies do not necessarily conceal their membership or existence). Spread by the advance of the British Empire, Freemasonry remains most popular in the British Isles and in other countries originally within the empire. Estimates of the worldwide membership of Freemasonry in the early 21st century ranged from about two million to more than six ...(100 of 551 words)