Friar Minor

English

Etymology

A calque of Medieval Latin Fratres Minores (“the Lesser Brothers”), both directly and via Old French freres meneurs and Norman freres menures, a name supposedly chosen by St Francis to inculcate humility.

Noun

Friar Minor (plural Friars Minor or Friar Minors)

1. (Catholicism) Synonym of Franciscan: a member of the Order of the Friars Minor.
   • c. 1410, "John Mandeville", Travels (Titus C.xvi), p. 188:

     […] So þere weren with vs ij worthi men, Frere Menoures […]

   • 1952, Beryl Smalley, Study of Bible in Middle Ages, p. 264:

     The Friars Preacher opened their studium generale at St. Jacques, Paris, in 1229, the Friars Minor theirs in 1231.

Usage notes

The word Minor is now usually treated as a postmodifier, causing the plural ending -s to be added to Friar. Some speakers have treated the name as a compound of two nouns for the entirety of its use in English, however, using the plural form Friar Minors instead. Early on, others followed Latin and French practice and pluralized both words as Friars Minors, although that form is now obsolete in English.

Coordinate terms

• Sister Minor

References

• “minor, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.