The word Accepted also goes back to the time of the operative mason. During the latter years of the Middle Ages, there were few educated men outside the monasteries of the world. Naturally, men wanted to become Freemasons to obtain the advantages the craft had to offer. These men did not necessarily want to build buildings; they wanted to belong to the organization. These were Accepted Masons, rather than operative masons.

This practice probably originated when some of the people for whom the craftsmen were working asked to be admitted. This was an important transition for the Craft, because the secrets of the building trades were becoming more widely known, architecture was changing and membership was declining. By becoming Speculative, the Craft grew rapidly. As time went on, there became many more Accepted members than there were operative members, and eventually we became a Speculative rather than an operative organization.