Mason-Dixon Line
proper noun
Forms the Mason–Dixon Line Mason and Dixon line Mason's and Dixon's line
- proper noun (historical) The boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run (1764–1767) by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, that, before abolition, defined part of the northern boundary of states in which slavery was permitted.
- proper noun The boundary between the free and slave states at the time of the American Civil War, or between states with different segregationist policies in the Jim Crow era.
Synonyms
Etymology
Named after English astronomers Charles Mason (1728–1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733–1779).
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Mason-Dixon Line”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details