Talk:Franciscan friary, Humac

Franciscans are not monks, but friars, so this can't be a monastery: it has to be a friary. Ingratis (talk) 17:48, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

I had doubts about the title. I was confused by the Croatian title - samostan, which literally translated is monastery. It comes from the Greek monastḗrion with monas meaning single and tḗrion meaning doing something, that is doing something alone, or living single. Croatian samo means single, and stan means to live in that context. And then, after reading, I saw that the English language distinguishes monks from friars. Monk is understood as more strict than a friar. For this, I always refer to Merriam-Webster, which gives the following definitions: monk – "a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery" [1]; friar – "a member of a mendicant order" [2]. Further, the same dictionary defines monastery as "a house for persons under religious vows, especially an establishment for monks" [3], while friary is defined as a monastery of friars [4]. Thus, it can be inferred that a friary is a part of the monastery category, a specialised monastery, so to speak. I agree with you, and I'll move all the articles with the same title. --Governor Sheng (talk) 18:47, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for your thoughtful response. (I hate to question Merriam-Webster, but their expression "monastery of friars" strikes me as similarly questionable, for the same reason). Another comment on the same point: English doesn't generally use "Monastery" in the names of Catholic religious houses - e.g., Foo Monastery (although that would be fine for an Orthodox monastery). The usual naming convention is either Foo Abbey or Foo Priory, besides Foo Friary. So an alternative for Franciscans would be Foo Priory (since Franciscans have priors, not abbots). You'll have acquired your own experience of editing on these subjects, but FWIW I'll share mine: I've noticed many times that in articles on monasteries etc many editors take a very strong line in inverse proportion to their knowledge of (a) monasteries and (b) the English language, and any sort of systematic renaming is likely to provoke a lot of badly informed opposition, so good luck! If I can help please let me know. All best, Ingratis (talk) 19:13, 21 November 2020 (UTC)