Franciscan

Learned borrowing from Late Latin Franciscānus (“(noun) friar of the order of Saint Francis; (adjective) of or from the order of Saint Francis”) + English -an (suffix forming agent nouns; and meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Franciscānus is derived from Franciscus (“the given name Francis, the name of Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1181 – 1226)”) + Latin -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’, denoting relationships of origin, position, or possession);^[1] and Franciscus from Francia (“region inhabited or ruled over by the Franka, Frankia”) (apparently a nickname from Francis’s father, an Italian merchant who worked in France) + -iscus (suffix forming adjectives).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /fɹænˈsɪsk(ə)n/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪskən
• Hyphenation: Fran‧cisc‧an

Franciscan (plural Franciscans) (Christianity, originally Roman Catholicism)

1. A friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor.

   Synonyms: Cordelier, Friar Minor, Minorite, Observant

   • 1536 June 16 (Gregorian calendar), Hugh Latimer, “Sermon II. By the Reverend Father in Christ Master Hugh Latimer Bishop of Worcester. Preached to the Convocation of the Clergy, before the Parliament Began, the Sixth Day of June, the Twenty Eighth Year of the Reign of the Late Henry VIII. […] [Master Latimer’s Discourse on the Same Day in the Afternoon. Luke XVI. 8.].”, in The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. […], volume I, London: […] J. Scott, […], published 1758, →OCLC, page 30:

     [O]ur old antient Purgatory pick-purſe, that vvas ſvvaged and covvled vvith a Franciſcan’s covvl, […]

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Prognosticks of Iealosie, Despaire, Madnesse, to Make away Themselues and Others”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 3, member 3, page 688:

     [A] ſilly iealous fellovve, that ſeeing his child nevv borne included in a kell [i.e., caul], thought ſure a Franciſcan that vſed to come to his houſe, vvas the father of it, it vvas ſo like a Friers Covvle, and therevpon threatned the Frier to kill him.

   • 1995 July, Pat Conroy, chapter 19, in Beach Music, New York, N.Y.: Nan A[hearn] Talese, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 265:

     We tried the Franciscans. The Jesuits. The Paulists. The Trappists. The Benedictines. […] Not one Franciscan in this city can make a positive identification of this bearded American priest. Every Franciscan we talked to was sure this man was not a member of their order. Yet he wears their habit and he heard confessions in one of their most important churches.

   • 2001, David Burr, “The Franciscan Dilemma”, in The Spiritual Franciscans: From Protest to Persecution in the Century after Saint Francis, University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University Press, →ISBN, page 4:

     [T]he cities were growing rapidly, but the urban parish system was not, so when Franciscans entered the cities to preach, they encountered a substantial population in need not only of preaching but also of pastoral care.

2. A friar or nun of a religious order based on the rule of Francis of Assisi's original order, such as (Roman Catholicism) the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (for men), Order of Friars Minor Conventual (men), Order of Saint Clare (women), or the Third Order of Saint Francis (men and women); or (Protestantism) certain orders in some Protestant churches, especially the Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church.

   (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin): Synonym: Capuchin

   (Order of Friars Minor Conventual): Synonyms: Conventual, greyfriar, Minorite

   (Order of Saint Clare): Synonyms: Clarisse, Clarissine, Minoress, Poor Clare

• Franciscanism
• Franciscanness (rare)

• San Franciscan

• Joachimite
• Recollect
• Spiritual

Franciscan (not comparable) (Christianity)

1. Of or pertaining to Saint Francis of Assisi.
2. Of or pertaining to (Roman Catholicism) the Order of the Friars Minor, or (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism) to another religious order based on the rule of Francis of Assisi's original order.

   Synonym: Minorite

   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], signature L, recto:

     Holy Franciſcan Frier, brother, ho.

   • 1611, Iohn Speed [i.e., John Speed], “Henrie the Seventh, King of England and France, […]”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of yͤ Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. […], London: […] William Hall and John Beale, for John Sudbury and George Humble, […], →OCLC, book IX ([Englands Monarchs] […]), paragraph 72, page 751, column 1:

     In his life time hee [Henry VII of England] founded the goodly Hoſpitall of the Sauoy, built ſixe religious Houſes for Franciſcan Friers, three of them for Obſeruants, and the other three for Conuentuals.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature K2, verso, lines 478–480:

     And they vvho to be ſure of Paradiſe / Dying put on the vveeds of Dominic, / Or in Franciſcan think to paſs diſguis'd; […]

   • 1797, Robert Southey, “Of the State of Portugal”, in Letters Written during a Short Residence in Spain and Portugal, […], Bristol: […] Bulgin and Rosser, for Joseph Cottle, […], and G[eorge] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, and Cadell and Davies, […], →OCLC, page 418:

     So much for the firſt claſs of the Mendicants. The moſt numerous is the Serafic, or Franciſcan order, divided into as many ſpecies as pleaſed the fancies of the founders.

• franciscanite

• Franciscans on Wikipedia.Wikipedia