Franciscan
Syllables: Fran·cisc·anUK/fɹænˈsɪsk(ə)n/
Franciscan noun: a friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor.
Noun
Franciscan (plural Franciscans)
- A friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor.
- [O]ur old antient Purgatory pick-purſe, that vvas ſvvaged and covvled vvith a Franciſcan’s covvl, […]1536 June 15 (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...
- [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.1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Prognosticks of Iealosie, Despaire, Madnesse, to Make away Themselues and Others”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […]...
- Synonyms:
- Cordelier, Friar Minor, Minorite, Observant
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- Capuchin, Conventual, greyfriar, Minorite, Clarisse, Clarissine, Minoress, Poor Clare
Adjective
Franciscan (not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to Saint Francis of Assisi.
- 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.
- Holy Franciſcan Frier, brother, ho.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...
- 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.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...
- Synonyms:
- Minorite
Examples of Franciscan in a sentence
- The Benedictines. […] Not one Franciscan in this city can make a positive identification of this bearded American priest.1995 July, Pat Conroy, chapter 19, in Beach Music, New York, N.Y.: Nan A[hearn] Talese, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 265:
- And they vvho to be ſure of Paradiſe / Dying put on the vveeds of Dominic, / Or in Franciſcan think to paſs diſguis'd; […]1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert...
- The moſt numerous is the Serafic, or Franciſcan order, divided into as many ſpecies as pleaſed the fancies of the founders.1797, Robert Southey, “Of the State of Portugal”, in Letters Written during a Short Residence in Spain and Portugal, […], Bristol: […]...
- There, a Franciscan friar named Andrés Ivars asked that Fr.2017 December 16, “These priests were martyred for refusing to violate the seal of confession”, in Catholic News Agency:
Synonyms of Franciscan
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of Franciscan
| plural | Franciscans |
|---|
Origin of 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); 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).
Words formed from Franciscan
Questions about Franciscan
- What does Franciscan mean?
- Franciscan means a friar of the religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209, now known as the Order of the Friars Minor.
- How do you use Franciscan in a sentence?
- The Benedictines. […] Not one Franciscan in this city can make a positive identification of this bearded American priest.
- What part of speech is Franciscan?
- Franciscan can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Franciscan?
- Franciscan is pronounced /fɹænˈsɪsk(ə)n/ (UK).
- What is the plural of Franciscan?
- The plural of Franciscan is Franciscans.
Words near Franciscan in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Franciscan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Franciscan.wav.
Cite this entry: “Franciscan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/franciscan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.