brotherhood
English
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for brotherhood in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
Etymology
From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of Early Middle English brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhood, fellowship”), equivalent to brother + -red (see brotherred). More at brother, -red.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɹʌðɚhʊd/
Noun
brotherhood (countable and uncountable, plural brotherhoods)
- The state of being brothers or a brother.
- An association for any purpose, such as a society of monks; a fraternity.
- The whole body of persons engaged in the same business, especially those of the same profession
- the legal brotherhood
- the medical brotherhood
- People, or (poetically) things, of the same kind.
- William Wordsworth
- a brotherhood of venerable trees
- William Wordsworth
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Translations
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See also
Further reading
- brotherhood in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- brotherhood in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- brotherhood at OneLook Dictionary Search