Where does the word 'tyler' come from?

The title of Tyler comes directly from the operative building trade, deriving from the Old English tigule and the Latin tegula, which named the craftsman whose trade was making and laying roof tiles, as a paper read before the Lodge records.

In operative masonry, when an edifice was erected, the tiler finished, enclosed, and protected the building by covering it with a roof of tiles to make it weather-tight and secure 1. Speculative Masonry adopted the title symbolically for the officer assigned to guard the lodge, close the door, and secure the sacred precincts against intrusion from unauthorized persons 1.

An article on the site notes that the term is also etymologically related to Old English and provincial terms such as "heler"—one who covers, conceals, or hides, from the root hele, meaning to protect or cover. The function of the operative craftsman in completing the enclosure of a building thus provided the symbol for the officer charged with maintaining the enclosure and security of the lodge.