phratry

American  

[frey-tree] / ˈfreɪ tri /

noun

plural

phratries

1. a grouping of clans or other social units within a tribe.

2. (in ancient Greece) a subdivision of a phyle.

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phratry British  

/ ˈfreɪtrɪ /

noun

1. anthropol a group of people within a tribe who have a common ancestor

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Other Word Forms

• phratral adjective
• phratriac adjective
• phratrial adjective
• phratric adjective
• subphratry noun

Etymology

Origin of phratry

1745–55; < Greek phrātría, equivalent to phrātr-, stem of phrātḗr clansman (akin to brother ) + -ia -y ³

Example Sentences

His children by her are of phratry Crow, of totem Black Duck.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

The districts of the phratry and the tribe received inhabitants who did not belong to these bodies and, therefore, were strangers in their own homes, although they were countrymen.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels, Friedrich

Originally no Seneca was allowed to marry within his phratry, but this custom has long become obsolete and is now confined to the gens.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels, Friedrich

These held a phratry council which in a body addressed itself to the other phratry, in order to prevail on the latter to assemble in council and effect a condonation of the matter.

From The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Engels, Friedrich

We take the former first, dealing with the clan-family and the phratry, which are together the self-maintaining unit of society, with the general relief of the poor, with hospitality, and with vagrancy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8 "Chariot" to "Chatelaine" by Various