phratry

[ frey-tree ]

noun

, plural phra·tries.

1. a grouping of clans or other social units within a tribe.
2. (in ancient Greece) a subdivision of a phyle.

phratry

/ ˈfreɪtrɪ /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˈphratric, adjective

Other Words From

• phratric phratral phratri·ac phratri·al adjective
• sub·phratry noun plural subphratries

Word History and Origins

Origin of phratry¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of phratry¹

C19: from Greek phratria clan, from phratēr fellow clansman; compare Latin frāter brother

Example Sentences

A man of the Emu phratry marries a woman of the Kangaroo phratry, and to that phratry her children belong.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus members of either phratry must be found in any casual knot or company of natives.

From Project Gutenberg

Within each phratry there are, again, kinships also known by hereditary names of animals or plants.

From Project Gutenberg

In phratry Kupathin are Ipai (male) and Kumbo (male), while the women bear the feminine forms of these names.

From Project Gutenberg

Where totem and phratry names only exist, a man has merely to ask a woman, "What is your phratry name?"

From Project Gutenberg