Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
(gcide) | Shrine \Shrine\ (shr[imac]n), n. [OE. schrin, AS. scr[imac]n,
from L. scrinium a case, chest, box.]
1. A case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are
deposited sacred relics, as the bones of a saint.
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2. Any sacred place, as an altar, tromb, or the like.
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Too weak the sacred shrine guard. --Byron.
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3. A place or object hallowed from its history or
associations; as, a shrine of art.
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4. Short for
Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a
secret fraternal organization professedly originated by
one Kalif Alu, a son-in-law of Mohammed, at Mecca, in the
year of the Hegira 25 (about 646 a. d.) In the modern
order, established in the United States in 1872, only
Knights Templars or thirty-second degree Masons are
eligible for admission, though the order itself is not
Masonic. A member of the order is popularly called a
Shriner, and the order itself is sometimes called the
Shriners.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] |