phratry

American  

[fray-tree] / ˈfreɪ tri /

noun

• phratries
  plural

1. a grouping of clans or other social units within a tribe.

2. (in ancient Greece) a subdivision of a phyle.

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phratry British  

/ ˈfreɪtrɪ /

noun

1. anthropol a group of people within a tribe who have a common ancestor

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subphratry
  noun
• phratral
  adjective
• phratriac
  adjective
• phratrial
  adjective
• phratric
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• phratries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of phratry

1745–55; < Greek phrātría, equivalent to phrātr-, stem of phrātḗr clansman (akin to brother ) + -ia -y ³

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phratry phratries

In electing a sachem the phratry council also came into action.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

Thus a man, Eagle Hawk by phratry, Snipe by totem, marries a woman Crow by phratry, Black Duck by totem.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

To avoid the clash of law, all Cats had to go into one phratry or the other, either into Eagle Hawk or into Crow.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

If a sachem died, the opposite phratry notified the central council of the Iroquois that the office of the deceased had become vacant.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

In this case the phratry re-appears in its original gentile capacity, and with a better prospect of success than the weaker gens, its daughter.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

At Athens she presided over the phratries or clans, and was known as ἀπατουρία and φρατρία, and sacrifice was offered to her at the festival Apaturia.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

Hence we find the gentes of the same name differently grouped in the phratries of the different tribes.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

Simultaneously the population was grouped into three main classes and twenty-seven phratries.

From The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilizations by Zelia Nuttall

These clans were also incorporated into four phratries, or larger divisions.

From The Border Watch A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand by Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler

In Attica there were four tribes of three phratries each; the number of gentes in each phratry was thirty.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels

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