Masonry...Masonary

["Charles Kibby" <ckibby@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

'Masonary' is definitely a non-word promulgated by masons who ought to know
better and others who lump masonry with anything having to do with the
exterior of a structure, regardless of medium.  I fight this linguistic
battle daily in my work but it's so common that you eventually have to
tolerate the pejorative term and move on.

The other terms you referenced, as we use them in our restoration business:

Cement - A matrix that binds together particles, large or small. Portland
Cement (crushed, burned and processed limestone)is the most common binder
used today to hold together aggregates.  Water is an excellent binder below
0 degrees Centigrade.  The Romans used egg whites as a cement, or binder,
when it was available to them.  Cement is the stuff that holds it all
together.

Concrete - Aggregate (usually gravel and sand) held together with a
cementitious matrix of some kind.  Today we use what is commonly known as
Portland Cement as the binder for  concrete.  Many ancient concretes (The
dome of the Pantheon, Hagia Sophia, etc.)used natural lime as the
cementitious binder, with pozzolanic additives. The term specifally refers
to a binder holding together large sized aggregate, and use for primarily
structural purposes.

Mortar - We use the this term to refer to what is usually a mixture of a
cementitious binder (usually Portland Cement with a bit of Type S lime)
mixed with aggregate in the form of sand.  Mortars tend to be drier and
applied with a hawk and margin trowel or pointing trowel,as opposed to a
grout, which tends to be wetter and have better flow properties for
injection or pouring in place.  As we use the terms, both grout and mortar
would be limited to finer aggregates, and would not incorporate gravel or
larger particles.

Having said all this, you may rely on the fact that many people do not use
these terms as specifically, even in the building trades, and it is
important to define terms before any discussion of work to avoid common
misunderstandings.

chaz

I've seen this word, 'Masonary', used numerous times on the stone list and
have heard it in chatter amongst the trades for the past 27 years but I
cannot
find it in the dictionary.  Is this a result of the education of
masons....they
would rather be working with their hands then their minds, or is it really a
word?  I also hear people refer to cement when they mean concrete or
mortar.......there is a difference, right?  Stone masons should know the
correct answer.
Patrick Healy