The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic

Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...

 and approved by Pope Honorius III

Pope Honorius III

Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...

 (1216–27) on 22 December 1216 in France. Membership in the Order includes friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

s, nuns, congregations of active sisters, and lay persons affiliated with the order (formerly known as tertiaries

Third Order of Saint Dominic

The Third Order of St. Dominic is a Roman Catholic third order affiliated with the Dominican Order.-Origin:...

, now Lay or Secular Dominicans).

A number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members.

• In England
  England
  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
  
   and other countries the Dominicans are referred to as Black Friars because of the black cappa or cloak they wear over their white habits
  Religious habit
  A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
  
  .