“Masonary” is not a word — it’s a misspelling. The correct spelling is masonry, which refers to stonework, brickwork, or the trade of building with stone and brick. If you typed “masonary” into a search bar, autocorrect or a dictionary check will point you straight back to masonry.
The Short Answer
Masonry is the only accepted spelling in standard English. There’s no extra “a” before the final syllable. The word breaks down as mason (someone who builds with stone or brick) plus the suffix -ry (a common ending meaning “the practice or product of,” as in cookery, bakery, or archery). Add an extra “a” and you get a spelling that doesn’t exist in any dictionary — American, British, or otherwise.
Why People Get It Wrong
The mix-up is easy to explain. English has plenty of words ending in “-ary” — library, stationary, ordinary, secondary. Your brain hears the “-ree” sound at the end of masonry and, primed by all those familiar “-ary” words, nudges you toward the wrong pattern. It’s a classic case of one spelling convention bleeding into a word that actually follows a different one.
There’s also the visual similarity to words like “stationary” (not moving) versus “stationery” (paper goods) — another pair that trips people up constantly. Masonry just doesn’t belong in that family at all, even though it sounds like it should.
A Quick Memory Trick
- Think of the root word first: a mason lays bricks.
- Add -ry, the same ending you’d use for other trades and crafts: cookery, forgery, carpentry.
- Mason + ry = masonry. No room for an extra “a” to sneak in.
What Masonry Actually Means
Masonry has two related meanings:
- The material or structure — stone, brick, or concrete block used in building, as in “the masonry on the old church is crumbling.”
- The trade or craft — the skill of building with those materials, as in “he’s been in masonry for twenty years.”
You’ll also see it in compound terms like load-bearing masonry, masonry veneer, and masonry contractor — all standard in construction and architecture.
Examples in a Sentence
- The historic bridge is built entirely from masonry laid over a century ago.
- We hired a masonry company to repair the crumbling chimney.
- Freemasonry, despite the name, has nothing to do with construction — it’s a fraternal organization, and it’s spelled with two capital letters when referring to the group, but the general term stays lowercase.
| Spelling | Correct? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Masonry | Yes | Standard spelling everywhere |
| Masonary | No | Common typo, not a recognized word |
| Masonery | No | Another frequent misspelling |
Key Takeaways
- Masonry is the only correct spelling; “masonary” is a misspelling with no dictionary entry.
- The word comes from mason + the suffix -ry, not -ary, which is where the confusion starts.
- Masonry refers to both the material (brick, stone, block) and the trade of building with it.
- Watch for the related typo “masonery,” which fails for the same reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “masonary” ever correct in British English?
No. British and American English both use “masonry.” There’s no regional variant that adds the extra “a.”
What part of speech is masonry?
Masonry is a noun. It names either the material used in construction or the trade itself.
How do you spell someone who does masonry work?
That person is a mason. The trade they practice is masonry, but the individual worker is simply called a mason or, more specifically, a bricklayer or stonemason.
Is “masonry” related to “Freemasonry”?
Not really, beyond sharing a root word historically. Freemasonry refers to the fraternal organization, while masonry in everyday use almost always means brick and stone construction.
What other words get confused with an extra “a” like this?
Words such as “hindrance” (often misspelled “hinderance”) and “disastrous” (often misspelled “disasterous”) follow the same pattern — a syllable people expect to hear gets mistakenly added in writing.
Next time your fingers want to type “masonary,” remember the mason-plus-ry rule and you’ll spell it right every time. If spelling slip-ups like this trip you up often, it’s worth browsing a few more commonly confused words on the site while you’re here.
