"cowan" Definition

Definitions for the word "cowan" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. slang
a sneak, an inquisitive or prying person. _Greek_, κύων, a dog. Term given by Freemasons to all uninitiated persons. Used in Anderson’s _Constitutions_, edit. 1769, p. 97. If derived from κύων, its use was probably suggested by such passages in the N. T. as Matt. vii. 6, and Phil. iii. 2. The Moslems apply dog in a similar manner. It is probably Oriental. Other authorities say it is from COWAN, or KIRWAN, a Scottish word signifying a man who builds rough stone walls without mortar—a man who, though he builds, is not a practical mason.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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