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A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. Bless you, good father friar ! Shak.

A conventional flower suggested by the iris, and having a form which fits it for the terminal decoration of a scepter, the ornaments of a crown, etc. It is also a heraldic bearing, and is identified with the royal arms and adornments of France.

Ornamentation by means of flower forms, whether closely imitated or conventionalized.

Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula; as, a form of prayer. Those whom form of laws Condemned to die. Dryden.

Dependent in form; conventional. Still in constraint your suffering sex remains, Or bound in formal or in real chains. Pope.

Compliance with formal or conventional rules; ceremony; conventionality. Nor was his attendance on divine offices a matter of formality and custom, but of conscience. Atterbury.

A prescribed or set form; an established rule; a fixed or conventional method in which anything is to be done, arranged, or said.

A monk; also, a frater house. [R.] Shipley. Frater house, an apartament in a convent used as an eating room; a refectory; -- called also a fratery.

atic league. -- Free cost, freedom from charges or expenses. South. -- Free and easy, unconventional; unrestrained; regardless of formalities. [Colloq.] "Sal and her free and easy ways." W. Black. -- Free goods, goods admitted into a country free of duty. -- Free labor, the labor of freemen, as distinguished from t…

Like a friar; pertaining to friars or to a convent. [Obs.] Camden.

uperseded the large folio of Cranmer's translation. Called also Genevan Bible. -- Geneva convention (Mil.), an agreement made by representatives of the great continental powers at Geneva and signed in 1864, establishing new and more humane regulation regarding the treatment of the sick and wounded and the status of th…

el or cross bars; a latticework resembling a window grate; as, the grating of a prison or convent.

Narrow and unintelligent conventionalism. -- Grun"dy*ist, n.

The permanent court of arbitration created by the "International Convention for the Pacific Settle of International Disputes.", adopted by the International Peace Conference of 1899. It is composed of persons of known competency in questions of international law, nominated by the signatory powers. From these persons an…

ferent and hostile propensities living peaceably together in one cage. Used ironically of conventional alliances of persons who are in fact mutually repugnant. -- Happy-go-lucky, trusting to hap or luck; improvident; easy-going. "Happy-go-lucky carelessness." W. Black.

A member of a chapter or convent, whose week it is to officiate in the choir, and perform other services, which, on extraordinary occasions, are performed by the superiors.

A convent or monastery which is also a place of refuge or entertainment for travelers on some difficult road or pass, as in the Alps; as, the Hospice of the Great St. Bernard.

Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian poet and dramatist, whose best-known plays deal with conventional hypocrisies, the story in each play thus developing a definite moral problem.

Not in the regular, usual, or established form; not according to official, conventional, prescribed, or customary forms or rules; irregular; hence, without ceremony; as, an informal writting, proceeding, or visit.

An informal, unconventional, or unofficial act or proceeding; something which is not in proper or prescribed form or does not conform to the established rule.