fraternity

English

Etymology

PIE word
*bʰréh₂tēr

From Middle English fraternite, borrowed from Old French fraternité, from Latin frāternitās, ultimately from frāter (“brother”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɹəˈtɜː(ɹ)nəti/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

fraternity (countable and uncountable, plural fraternities)

1. The quality of being brothers or brotherly; brotherhood.
2. A group of people associated for a common purpose.
   • 1611, Thomas Coryate, Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in France, Italy, &c:

     Having now so amply declared unto thee most of the principal things of this thrice-renowned and illustrious city, I will briefly by way of an epitome mention most of the other particulars thereof, and so finally shut up this narration: there are reported to be in Venice and the circumjacent islands two hundred churches in which are one hundred forth-three pairs of organs, fifty-four monasteries, twenty-six nunneries, fifty-six tribunals or places of judgment, seventeen hospitals, six companies or fraternities, whereof I have before spoken; one hundred and sixty-five marble statues of worthy personages, partly equestrial, partly pedestrial, which are erected in sundry places of the city, to the honour of those that either at home have prudently administered the commonweal, or abroad valiantly fought for the same.

3. (US) A social organization of male students at a college or university; usually identified by Greek letters.

Synonyms

• brotherhood
• community

Antonyms

• disfavor

Related terms

• fraternal
• fraternise, fraternize
• fratricide
• fraternity house
• sorority

Translations

the quality of being brothers

• Arabic: أُخُوَّة (ʔuḵuwwa)
• Armenian: եղբայրություն (hy) (eġbayrutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: братство (bg) (bratstvo)
• Catalan: germanor f, fraternitat (ca) f
• Esperanto: frateco (eo)
• Finnish: veljeys (fi)
• Galician: irmandade (gl) f
• German: Bruderschaft (de) f
• Lao: ພາລາດອນພາບ (phā lā dǭn phāp)
• Macedonian: братство n (bratstvo)
• Malayalam: സാഹോദര്യം (sāhōdaryaṁ)
• Polish: braterstwo (pl) n, fraternia (pl)
• Portuguese: fraternidade (pt) f, irmandade (pt) f
• Romanian: fraternitate (ro) f, frăție (ro) f
• Russian: бра́тство (ru) n (brátstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian: bràtstvo (sh) n
• Spanish: hermandad (es)
• Thai: ภราดรภาพ (th)
• Turkish: kardeşlik (tr)

group of people associated for a common purpose

• Afrikaans: broederskap (af)
• Armenian: համայնք (hy) (hamaynkʻ)
• Bulgarian: братство (bg) n (bratstvo)
• Czech: spolek (cs) m
• Esperanto: frataro
• Finnish: veljeskunta (fi)
• French: fraternité (fr) f
• Galician: irmandade (gl) f
• German: Gemeinschaft (de) f, Vereinigung (de) f
• Greek: αδελφότητα (el) f (adelfótita)
• Italian: fratellanza (it)
• Lao: ພາລາດອນພາບ (phā lā dǭn phāp)
• Macedonian: братство n (bratstvo)
• Polish: bractwo (pl)
• Portuguese: irmandade (pt)
• Romanian: fraternitate (ro) f
• Russian: бра́тство (ru) n (brátstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian: bràtstvo (sh) n
• Spanish: fraternidad (es) f, confraternidad f
• Tahitian: autaeaʻeraʻa
• Thai: ภราดรภาพ (th)
• Turkish: dernek (tr), cemiyet (tr), kardeşlik (tr), birlik (tr)

social organization of male students

• Arabic: أَخَوِيَّة (ʔaḵawiyya)
• Bulgarian: студентско сдружение n (studentsko sdruženie)
• Esperanto: frataro
• German: Verbindung (de) f, Burschenschaft (de) f
• Polish: korporacja (pl) f
• Turkish: erkek öğrenci birliği

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} fraterniteit (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} fraternité (fr) f
• German: ^{(please verify)} Fraternität (de) f
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 띠앗 (ko) (ttiat)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} fraternitas f

See also

• sorority