friary

noun

fri·​ary ˈfrī(-ə)r-ē How to pronounce friary (audio)
plural friaries
: a monastery of friars

Examples of friary in a Sentence

the Franciscans left the chapel and went to the friary for rest
Recent Examples on the Web Historical records indicated the king was buried in Grey Friars after the Battle of Bosworth, but the friary’s exact location—and, by extension, that of Richard’s grave—was lost during the English Reformation in the mid-16th century. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023 Of the friary’s ecclesiastical past little remained. Catherine Nicholson, The New York Review of Books, 1 June 2023 In the 1960s and 1970s, in advance of a plan to expand a local road, a team of archaeologists in Coventry excavated the grounds of what had once been a Carmelite friary, founded in 1342 just inside the walls of the medieval city. Catherine Nicholson, The New York Review of Books, 1 June 2023 While Langley hoped to find the king’s grave, the University of Leicester Archaeological Services was more interested in locating Grey Friars, the Franciscan friary where Richard was reportedly buried. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023 Experts say the ruins may be from the friary of St. Saviours, which was founded by a Dominican order of monks in about 1256, but its exact location had always been a mystery. Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Oct. 2022 Archaeologists from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit excavate the remains of friars buried in the grounds of the former Augustinian friary in central Cambridge. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 18 Aug. 2022 Put simply, the worms were much more common among the residents of the Augustinian friary. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 18 Aug. 2022 The remains of an individual buried in an Augustinian friary, excavated in 2016 on the University of Cambridge's New Museums site. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 5 Jan. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'friary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of friary was in 1538

Dictionary Entries Near friary

Cite this Entry

“Friary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friary. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

friary

noun
fri·​ary ˈfrī-(ə-)rē How to pronounce friary (audio)
plural friaries
: a monastery of friars
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