friar
Americannoun
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Roman Catholic Church. a member of a religious order, especially the mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians.
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Printing. a blank or light area on a printed page caused by uneven inking of the plate or type.
noun
Related Words
See monk.
Other Word Forms
- friarly adjective
Etymology
Origin of friar
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English frier, frere “brother,” from Old French frere, from Latin frāter; brother
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One night, as she walks with Donatello along a battlement, they see the model nearby, dressed as a friar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Cesareo, a Franciscan friar, said the "damaged" and "consumed" state of the bones showed that St Francis "gave himself completely" to his life's work.
From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026
One of the earliest collections of Augustinian biographies she studied was written by a Florentine friar in the 1320s.
From Science Daily • Feb. 2, 2026
A theologian who later became a Dominican friar, he revolutionised Church teachings with his 1971 book Theology of Liberation.
From BBC • Oct. 23, 2024
“I was pricking through the purlieus of the forest after that Beast, you know, when I met with a solemn friar of orders grey, and he told me. It’s the very latest news.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
