frere

See also: Frere and frère

Middle English

Alternative forms

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. Any of one's male associates, friends, or companions.
  2. A friar; a male member of a mendicant religious order.
    • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Summoner's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 1693-1696:
      Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve, / Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve / Twenty thousand freres on a route / And thurghout helle swarmed al 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. A friary; a religious institute for friars.
  4. (rare) A monk; a male member of a monastic religious order.

Descendants

References

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)

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Noun

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

  1. brother (family member)

Descendants
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