[frahy-er] 
| 1. | Roman Catholic Church. a member of a religious order, esp. the mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. |
| 2. | Printing. a blank or light area on a printed page caused by uneven inking of the plate or type. Compare monk (def. 3). |
| fri·ar (frī'ər) n. Abbr. Fr. A member of a usually mendicant Roman Catholic order. [Middle English frere, from Old French, from Latin frāter, brother; see bhrāter- in Indo-European roots.] fri'ar·ly adj. |
friar
(from Latin frater through French frere, "brother"), one belonging to a Roman Catholic religious order of mendicants. Formerly, friar was the title given to individual members of these orders, as Friar Laurence (in Romeo and Juliet), but this is no longer common. The 10 mendicant orders are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians (Augustian Hermits), Carmelites, Trinitarians, Mercedarians, Servites, Minims, Hospitallers of St. John of God, and the Teutonic Order (the Austrian branch)
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