Pl. frati. [It.; lit. ‘brother.’] A friar.
1721. Richardson, Statues in Italy, 329. A Fine Madonna of the Frate (Fra Bartolomeo is always so call’d).
1823. Lady Morgan, Salvator Rosa, I. ii. 48–9. The rules of the rigid Chartreux oblige the prior and procuratore to flagellate all the frati, or lay brothers, of the convent.
1875. H. James, R. Hudson, viii. 288. The frate crossed himself, opened his book, and wandered away in relief against the western sky.
1889. Athenæum, 27 July, 125/3. Every quarter had its child-counsellors, its guardians of the peace, its masters of the ceremonies, its lictors, its inquisitors—all children, vigilant, eager, irresponsible instruments of the frate [Savonarola].
