Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The state or relationship of being brothers.
  • noun Fellowship.
  • noun An association of men, such as a fraternity or union, united for common purposes.
  • noun All the members of a profession or trade.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The fact or condition of being a brother.
  • noun The quality of being brotherly.
  • noun An association of men for any purpose; a fraternity.
  • noun A class of individuals of the same kind, profession, or occupation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state of being brothers or a brother.
  • noun An association for any purpose, as a society of monks; a fraternity.
  • noun The whole body of persons engaged in the same business, -- especially those of the same profession.
  • noun Persons, and, poetically, things, of a like kind.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of being brothers or a brother.
  • noun An association for any purpose, as a society of monks; a fraternity.
  • noun The whole body of persons engaged in the same business, -- especially those of the same profession; as, the legal or medical brotherhood.
  • noun Persons, and, poetically, things, of a like kind.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
  • noun the kinship relation between a male offspring and the siblings
  • noun people engaged in a particular occupation
  • noun the feeling that men should treat one another like brothers

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English brotherhod, 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.

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Examples

Comments

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  • i use it only in context of the male branch (my experience) of the carmelite order ... no slight intended to the sisters

    December 3, 2006