phratry

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phra·try

 (frā′trē)
n. pl. phra·tries
1. A kinship group constituting an intermediate division in the primitive structure of the Hellenic tribe or phyle, consisting of several patrilinear clans, and surviving in classical times as a territorial subdivision in the political and military organization of the Athenian state.
2. Anthropology An exogamous subdivision of the tribe, constituting two or more related clans.

[Greek phrātriā, from phrātēr, phrātr-, fellow member of a clan; see bhrāter- in Indo-European roots.]

phra′tric adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phratry

(ˈfreɪtrɪ)
n, pl -tries
(Anthropology & Ethnology) anthropol a group of people within a tribe who have a common ancestor
[C19: from Greek phratria clan, from phratēr fellow clansman; compare Latin frāter brother]
ˈphratric adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phra•try

(ˈfreɪ tri)

n., pl. -tries.
1. a grouping of clans or other social units within a tribe.
2. (in ancient Greece) a social group, based on real or fictional kinship, with corporate laws and a set of tutelary deities.
[1745–55; < Greek phrātría=phrātr-, s. of phrātḗr clansman (akin to brother) + -ia -y3]
phra′tric, phra′tral, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

phratry

1. a subdivision of an ancient Greek tribe or phyle.
2. a clan or other unit of a primitive tribe.
See also: Anthropology, Greece and Greeks, Society
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.phratry - people descended from a common ancestorphratry - people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower"
people - members of a family line; "his people have been farmers for generations"; "are your people still alive?"
homefolk - the people of your home locality (especially your own family); "he wrote his homefolk every day"
house - aristocratic family line; "the House of York"
dynasty - a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
gens, name - family based on male descent; "he had no sons and there was no one to carry on his name"
blood line, bloodline, ancestry, lineage, pedigree, stemma, line of descent, parentage, blood, origin, descent, stock, line - the descendants of one individual; "his entire lineage has been warriors"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
The Romans, even more than the Greeks, retained fundamentally phratric notions of social responsibility, with blood-guilt the most dramatic manifestation.