Members of a religious community, usually Catholic, who take vows of poverty and travel around preaching and helping people.
From Old French 'frere' meaning 'brother,' derived from Latin 'frater.' Friars differ from monks because they live and work in communities outside the monastery rather than isolated in one place.
Medieval friars were like the social workers of their time—while monks stayed in monasteries praying, friars went into towns to preach, teach, and care for the sick and poor, which made them famous enough to star in stories like Robin Hood.
Friar communities were male-only by ecclesiastical law; female contemplatives were called sisters/nuns, creating linguistic gender segregation in religious orders.
Use friars for male members; sister/nun for female members; friaries or religious communities for inclusive reference.
["religious order members","contemplatives","monastic communities"]
Women mystics like Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich made equal spiritual contributions but were linguistically erased from 'friar' discourse.
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