brother

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Contents

English[edit]

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Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English brother, from Old English brōþor, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (compare West Frisian broer, Dutch broeder, German Bruder, Danish broder), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (compare Irish bráthair, Latin frāter, Ancient Greek φράτηρ (phratēr), Tocharian A pracar, B procer, Russian брат (brat), Lithuanian brolis, Persian برادر (barādar), Sanskrit and Hindi भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ)).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

brother (plural brothers or (archaic) brethren)

  1. Son of the same parents as another person.
    My parents love me and my brother equally, even though he is adopted.
  2. A male having at least one parent in common with another (see half-brother, stepbrother).
  3. A male fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc.
    • Thank you, brother. I would like to thank the brother who just spoke.
  4. (African American Vernacular) A black male.
  5. Someone who is a peer, whether male or female.
    • 1945, George Orwell, Animal Farm, chapter 1
      And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.

Coordinate terms[edit]

  • (with regards to gender): sister

Hypernyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Usage notes[edit]

The plural "brethren" tends to be used more in broader senses than in familial ones.

Verb[edit]

brother (third-person singular simple present brothers, present participle brothering, simple past and past participle brothered)

  1. (transitive) To treat as a brother.
    • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
    • Seest thou not we are overreached, and that our proposed mode of communicating with our friends without has been disconcerted by this same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother?

Translations[edit]

Interjection[edit]

brother

  1. Expressing exasperation.
    We're being forced to work overtime? Oh, brother!

Statistics[edit]


Middle English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English brōþor.

Noun[edit]

brother (plural brothers)

  1. brother

Descendants[edit]