Unmortared

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Built without mortar, so the stones or bricks are not bonded together by the cement-like material between them
2. Describing masonry or a wall assembled with no mortar binding its individual units in place
3. Lacking the binding layer of mortar that normally holds stones or bricks together in a structure

Etymology: "Unmortared" is formed from the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "mortared," the past participle of "mortar" used adjectivally. The prefix traces back through Old English "un-" to the Proto-Germanic *un-, a negating element shared by many Germanic languages, and it has been productive in English for over a thousand years, so it attaches freely to participles like this one. The base word "mortar" comes from a different path entirely: it is ultimately Latin "mortarium," a vessel for pounding and grinding, which is also the source of the English noun for the grinding bowl. The building material sense developed later, from the mixture of lime, sand and water that was ground together and spread between bricks or stones. "Mortared," then, describes a wall or joint that has had this material applied, and "unmortared" describes one where it has not, such as dry-stacked stonework.

Antonyms: mortared