Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of a usually mendicant Roman Catholic order.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the Roman Catholic Church, a member of one of the mendicant monastic orders.
- noun In printing, a gray or indistinct spot or patch in print, usually made by imperfect inking: distinguished from
monk . - noun An Irish name of the angler, Lophius piscatorius.
- noun A fish of the family Atherinidæ.
- noun The friar-bird or leatherhead. See
friarbird . - noun A small flake of light-colored sediment floating in wine.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (R. C. Ch.) A brother or member of any religious order, but especially of one of the four mendicant orders, viz:
(a) Minors, Gray Friars, or Franciscans. (b) Augustines .(c) Dominicans or Black Friars. (d) White Friars or Carmelites. See these names in the Vocabulary. - noun (Print.) A white or pale patch on a printed page.
- noun (Zoöl.) An American fish; the silversides.
- noun (Zoöl.) an Australian bird (
Tropidorhynchus corniculatus ), having the head destitute of feathers; -- called alsocoldong ,leatherhead ,pimlico ;poor soldier , andfour-o'clock . - noun (Med.) a stimulating application for wounds and ulcers, being an alcoholic solution of benzoin, styrax, tolu balsam, and aloes; compound tincture of benzoin.
- noun (Bot.) the monkshood.
- noun (Bot.) an arumlike plant (
Arisarum vulgare ) with a spathe or involucral leaf resembling a cowl. - noun the ignis fatuus or Will-o'-the-wisp.
- noun (Zoöl.) the European white or sharpnosed skate (
Raia alba ); -- called alsoBurton skate ,border ray ,scad , anddoctor .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A member of certain
Christian orders such as theAugustinians ,Carmelites (white friars),Franciscans (grey friars) or theDominicans (black friars ).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Br. Benedict Joseph was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar on September 1, 1955.
Three priests 2009
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(The "bad Spanish friar" is a standard villain in our patriotic literature.)
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Brodrick, himself a former Augustinian friar, is a master of precision plotting, morally complex characterization, and crisp historical re-creation.
The 6th Lamentation: Summary and book reviews of The 6th Lamentation by William Brodrick. 2003
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One of them, Matthieu, an ex-capucin friar, said to the king: You are ignorant of what is going on; the country is in the greatest danger; the enemy has entered
The Ruin of a Princess Cl 1912
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The word friar is to be carefully distinguished in its application from the word monk.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913
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But viewers will at first be led to believe that the friar is a tricksy, brooding character with more on his mind than simply helping the battle against the Sheriff of Nottingham.
BBC social engineering: BBC's black, high-kicking Friar Tuck annoys historians FIDO The Dog 2009
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I am constrained to advise that the terms friar and monk are not synonymous, and that a friar does not inhabit an abbey.
No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003
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I am constrained to advise that the terms friar and monk are not synonymous, and that a friar does not inhabit an abbey.
No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003
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I am constrained to advise that the terms friar and monk are not synonymous, and that a friar does not inhabit an abbey.
No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003
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I am constrained to advise that the terms friar and monk are not synonymous, and that a friar does not inhabit an abbey.
No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003
michaelt42 commented on the word friar
The term Friar Tuck, with its fairly obvious rhyming slang connotation, found its way into the UK House of Commons during Questions to the Prime Minister (Cameron) last Wednesday (March 27, 2012). Cameron, a Conservative, was accused by Ed Milliband, Labour leader, of "not caring a Friar Tuck" for the less well off; Milliband also derided the idea of a Robin Hood budget that would take from the rich to give to the poor. Normally language of this sort would be ruled in poor taste by the Speaker, but on this occasion, when the gloves were off in the post-Budget period and Millibrand was persuing a clear Robin Hood analogy, the Speaker let the remark pass.
April 1, 2012