friar

American

[frahy-er] / ˈfraɪ ər /

noun

Roman Catholic Church. a member of a religious order, especially the mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians.
Printing. a blank or light area on a printed page caused by uneven inking of the plate or type.

friar British

/ ˈfraɪə /

noun

a member of any of various chiefly mendicant religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church, the main orders being Black Friars (Dominicans), Grey Friars (Franciscans), White Friars (Carmelites), and Austin Friars (Augustinians) See also Black Friar Grey Friar White Friar Augustinian

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

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

The friar, writes Mr. Restall, portrayed Columbus as “a flawed but heroic agent of God.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

A friar who knew of his struggle encouraged him to start dating a woman, but it didn’t feel natural.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2024

“It will make a little child very happy,” said the friar.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023