shriners

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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Any sacred place, as an altar, tromb, or the like.
      [1913 Webster]

            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]