frater

¹ American  

[frey-ter] / ˈfreɪ tər /

noun

1. a brother, as in a religious or fraternal order; comrade.

2. a member of a college or university fraternity.

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frater ² American  

[frey-ter] / ˈfreɪ tər /

noun

Ecclesiastical History Obsolete.

1. the refectory of a religious house.

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frater ¹ British  

/ ˈfreɪtə /

noun

1. a mendicant friar or a lay brother in a monastery or priory

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frater ² British  

/ ˈfreɪtə /

noun

1. archaic a refectory

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Etymology

Origin of frater¹

1555–65; < Latin frāter brother

Origin of frater²

1250–1300; Middle English frater, freitour < Old French fraitur, short for refreitor < Late Latin rēfectōrium refectory

Example Sentences

The club members called themselves "friars" after the Latin word for brother, "frater."

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2011

Reluctantly, the Trib shot down the sherif and later sank the frater.

From Time Magazine Archive

Instead of the Latin frater, the French frère, we find in Spanish hermano.

From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max

They prayed together in the choir, worked together in the cloister, ate together in the frater, and slept together in the dorter.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen

He bought it of me to carry on usury with it, as I perceive.—O frater!

From Life of Beethoven by Schindler, Anton