ˈfrā.trē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Greek phratria, from phratēr member of the same clan, member of a phratry — more at brother
1. also phra·tria ˈfrā.trēə -s : a kinship group forming a subdivision of a Greek phyle and serving to give religious recognition to the citizenship of its members
no deme coincided with a phratria or with any subdivision of a phratria — Athenaeum
— compare clan , deme
2. : a social tribal subdivision ; specifically : an exogamous group typically comprising several totemic clans
the phratry overruled its clans in many ways — Diamond Jenness