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Friar is the title applied to a member of one of the Roman Catholic religious orders of men who originally lived as mendicants (beggars). The term friar comes from a Latin word that means brother. The mendicant orders differ from monastic orders in that they were founded for active ministry in the world, such as preaching and missionary or social work. Thus friars are more mobile than monks, who generally spend most of their lives in monasteries. Friars live in houses called friaries.

Mendicant orders were first officially recognized by the church in the early 1200's. They multiplied rapidly until the second Council of Lyons (1274) suppressed all but four major ones. They were the Dominicans (called Black Friars or Preaching Friars), Franciscans (Gray Friars or Friars Minor), Carmelites (White Friars or Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel), and an order of Augustinians (Austin Friars or Hermits of St. Augustine). A few other lesser orders survived the suppression or were founded later. At first, mendicants renounced all possessions held in common and depended on alms (charity). However, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) authorized the orders to hold goods in common.