What does friar mean?
A friar is a man who belongs to one of the mendicant orders of the Roman Catholic Church—the best known being the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Carmelites—and who lives under solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. What distinguishes friars from monks is their mission: rather than withdrawing to an enclosed monastery, friars live and work out in the world, preaching, teaching, and serving the poor, historically supporting themselves by begging alms. The word entered English from Old French and ultimately derives from the Latin 'frater', meaning brother, reflecting the ideal that friars treat one another as brothers in a shared spiritual family. Today the word survives mainly in religious, historical, and literary contexts, evoked by figures such as Friar Tuck in the Robin Hood legends and Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet, and it remains a living term for members of these orders around the world.
nounA friar is a male member of one of the mendicant religious orders of the Christian Church—such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, or Carmelites—who lives under vows but among the general public rather than enclosed in a monastery.
- A male member of a mendicant religious order such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, or Carmelites, who lives under religious vows while serving in the world rather than in an enclosed monastery.
"The Franciscan friar spent his days preaching in the marketplace and tending to the city's poor."
"The Dominican friar lectured on theology at the university while ministering to students in the parish."
"In medieval towns, friars in coarse brown habits were a familiar sight as they begged for their daily bread."
The standard plural is simply 'friars'; a community or house of friars is called a friary.
"The friars of the priory gathered each evening for compline."
Friar comes straight from the Latin 'frater', meaning brother—which is why Friar Tuck, Robin Hood's companion, has been everyone's favourite 'brother' since the Middle Ages.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of friar
The word 'friar' derives from the Old French 'frere', meaning brother, which itself comes from the Latin 'frater'—the same root that gives us 'fraternal', 'fraternity', and related terms. It was adopted into English in the thirteenth century, coinciding with the arrival of the mendicant orders in Britain, when Francis of Assisi and Dominic founded movements whose members called themselves brothers rather than monks. The name reflects their self-understanding: unlike cloistered monastics bound to a single abbey, friars were itinerant 'brothers' serving the wider community. The same Latin root produced cognates across Europe, including Italian 'frate' and Spanish 'fraile'.
How friar is actually used
Friar is used almost exclusively in religious, historical, or literary contexts. It is a respectful, neutral term with no informal register; in everyday secular conversation it appears mainly through historical fiction, Chaucer, Shakespeare, or discussions of church history. The word is understood throughout the English-speaking world wherever Christian religious history is discussed.
Easily confused with friar
A monk lives a contemplative life enclosed within a monastery, whereas a friar takes vows but works and preaches out among the public.
'Fryer' is a common misspelling or variant spelling of 'friar', though it also means an appliance or cook for frying food, which is entirely unrelated.