Grandis in the Latin meant great, large, awesome, especially in the sense of imposing; it was afterwards applied to the aged, the ripe in experience, an application easy enough to understand when one recalls the reverence paid by the Romans to seniority, long experi-ence, etc. this latter meaning appears in our grandfather, grandmother, grandsire, etc. In English the word developed in two directions, one toward that which is great, large, awe-in-spiring, as in ?grandeur,? the other toward dignity, exalted power. Our own use of the term in ?Grand? Lodge, ?Grand? East, ?Grand? Master, harks back to the latter of the two usages. The head of the Craft is called ?Grand?? Master because he is its most exalted official. |
.
