frere

See also: Frere and frère

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ffrere, ffreere, ffryr, ffryre, freere, frer, frir, fryere

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French frere, from Latin frater, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. Doublet of brother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfreːr(ə)/, /ˈfriːr(ə)/

Noun

frere (plural freres or (rare) freren)

1. A male associate or companion
2. friar (male member of a mendicant order)
   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Somnours Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 79, recto:

     Right ſo as bees / out swarmen from an hyue / Out of the deueles ers / ther gonne dryue / Twenty thouſand freres / on a route / And thurgh oute helle / swarmeden aboute […]

     Just like bees swarm from a hive / Out of the devil's arse there were driven / Twenty thousand friars on a rout / And throughout Hell they swarmed all about […]

3. friary (religious institute for friars)
4. (rare) monk (male member of a monastic order)

Descendants

• English: friar
• Scots: freer (archaic)

References

• “frẹ̄r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-05-26.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French frere, from earlier fredre, fradre, from Latin frāter, frātrem, from Proto-Italic *frātēr, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

Noun

frere m (plural freres)

1. brother (male sibling)

Descendants

• French: frère
• Norman: frère (Guernsey), fréthe (Jersey)

Old French

Alternative forms

• fredre (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin frāter, from Proto-Italic *frātēr, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

Pronunciation

• (archaic) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾeːðɾə/
• (classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾeːɾə/
• (late) IPA^(key): /ˈfɾɛɾə/

Noun

frere oblique singular, m (oblique plural freres, nominative singular frere, nominative plural frere)

1. brother (family member)

Descendants

• Middle French: frere
  • French: frère
  • Norman: frère (Guernsey), fréthe (Jersey)
• → Middle English: frere
  • English: friar
  • Scots: freer (archaic)