Link Centre Dictionary

brotherhood

brot·her·hood

UK/ˈbɹʌðəˌhʊd/ US/ˈbɹʌðɚˌhʊd/ fairly common

noun

1.

the kinship relation between a male offspring and the siblings

2.

people engaged in a particular occupation

  • “the medical fraternity”
Synonyms
3.

the feeling that men should treat one another like brothers

4.

an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer

  • “you have to join the union in order to get a job”
Synonyms

Origin

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. Piecewise doublet of friarhood.

Phrases

  • blood brotherhood

Related words

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Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.