What does Friar mean?

Definitions for Friar
ˈfraɪ ərfri·ar

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Friar.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. friar, mendicantnoun

    a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms

Wiktionary

  1. friarnoun

    A member of certain Christian orders such as the Augustinians, Carmelites (white friars), Franciscans (grey friars) or the Dominicans (black friars).

  2. Etymology: from frere, from frater, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. FRIARnoun

    A religious; a brother of some regular order.

    Etymology: A corruption of frere, French.

    Holy Franciscan friar! brother! ho! William Shakespeare, Rom. and Jul.

    All the priests and friars in my realm,
    Shall in procession sing her endless praise. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

    He says he’s but a friar, but he’s big enough to be a pope. John Dryden, Spanish Fryar.

    Many jesuits and friars went about, in the disguise of Presbyterian and Independent ministers, to preach up rebellion. Jonathan Swift.

    A friar would needs shew his talent in Latin. Jonathan Swift.

Wikipedia

  1. Friar

    A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the older monastic orders' allegiance to a single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or a brother. The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Carmelites.

ChatGPT

  1. friar

    A friar is a member of a certain religious order within the Christian church, typically a Catholic or Orthodox order, who has taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Unlike monks who live secluded lives in a monastery, friars usually live and work among the public, providing service to the community. Some well-known orders of friars include the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Friarnoun

    a brother or member of any religious order, but especially of one of the four mendicant orders, viz: (a) Minors, Gray Friars, or Franciscans. (b) Augustines. (c) Dominicans or Black Friars. (d) White Friars or Carmelites. See these names in the Vocabulary

  2. Friarnoun

    a white or pale patch on a printed page

  3. Friarnoun

    an American fish; the silversides

  4. Etymology: [OR. frere, F. frre brother, friar, fr. L. frater brother. See Brother.]

Wikidata

  1. Friar

    A friar, or occasionally fray, is a man who is a member of a mendicant religious order in Catholic Christianity. "Fray" is sometimes used in former Spanish colonies such as the Philippines or the American Southwest as a title, such as in Fray Juan de Torquemada.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Friar

    frī′ar, n. a member of one of the mendicant monastic orders in the R.C. Church—the Franciscans (Friars Minor or Gray Friars), Dominicans (Friars Major, Friars Preachers, or Black Friars), Carmelites (White Friars), and Augustinians (Austin Friars).—adj. Frī′arly, like a friar.—n. Frī′ary, a monastery.—Friars' balsam (see Benzoin); Friar's cap, the wolf's-bane; Friar's cowl, the wake-robin; Friar's lantern, the ignis-fatuus or Will-o'-the-wisp. [O. Fr. frere—L. frater, a brother.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Friar

    a name applied generally to members of religious brotherhoods, but which in its strict significance indicated an order lower than that of priest, the latter being called "father," while they differed from monks in that they travelled about, whereas the monk remained secluded in his monastery; in the 13th century arose the Grey Friars or Franciscans, the Black Friars or Dominicans, the White Friars or Carmelites, Augustinians or Austin Friars, and later the Crutched Friars or Trinitarians.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Friar

    Agreeably to the Latin fratre, brother. This term signifies a member of a religious community as distinguished from a monk (Greek, monas, alone), who was originally a hermit, and, except when at meals or at prayers in the monastery, spends his time in a cell.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. FRIAR

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Friar is ranked #15124 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Friar surname appeared 1,950 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Friar.

    74% or 1,444 total occurrences were White.
    20% or 390 total occurrences were Black.
    2.8% or 56 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.9% or 38 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.6% or 13 total occurrences were Asian.
    0.4% or 9 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Friar in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Friar in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Friar#10000#43498#100000

Translations for Friar

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"Friar." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Friar>.

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