Etymologically
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Bruder

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbruːdɐ/[1]

Forms

Bruder m (genitive Bruders, plural Brüder, diminutive Brüderchen n or Brüderlein n)[1] The Middle High German plural was bruoder, and the umlauted brüeder came later.[2][3] The genitive singular was at first uninflected, bruoder, beside the newer bruoders.[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German bruoder, inherited from Old High German bruoder, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, inherited from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (“brother”).[5][1][6] The same word is Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐌰𐍂 (brōþar), Old Norse bróðir, Old English brōþor, Old Frisian brōther and Old Saxon brōðar, and today Dutch broeder, English brother, Swedish broder and Icelandic bróðir.[5][6][2]

It continues Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (“brother”), one of the kinship terms found in nearly every Indo-European language: Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrā́tṛ), Ancient Greek φράτηρ (phrā́tēr, “member of a phratry”), Latin frāter, Old Irish bráthair, Old Church Slavonic братръ (bratrŭ), Russian брат (brat), Tocharian A pracar and Lithuanian brólis, a diminutive.[5][7][2][8] Its further origin is unclear, though it has the suffix *-ter- typical of these terms.[5][9] Trier proposed a connection with Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to plait, weave”),[7] and Bopp, quoted by the Grimms, had derived it from the root meaning “to carry, support”, the brother being the supporter of mother and younger children.[4] Kluge takes the original sense to have been “male blood relative of the same generation within the extended family”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the gloss germanus proder of the second half of the 8th century.[8] The Ludwigslied (881/882) says that Louis shared the realm with Karlemanne, bruoder sinemo “Carloman, his brother”.[8] Old High German already used it as the address between monks, after Latin frater, and in the transferred sense “intimate, friend, fellow Christian”.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Monks have always called one another brothers, after Latin fratres, so Bruder before a name marked a monk.[9] From the monasteries the address passed to other fellowships: Freemasons, clergy (Amtsbruder), students (Verbindungsbruder) and soldiers (Waffenbruder).[9] In the 18th century Herr Bruder was frequent in drinking songs, and the 19th-century labour movement used Bruder as an address too.[9] The biblical idea that all people are brothers lies behind Schiller's Wir wollen sein ein einzig Volk von Brüdern in Wilhelm Tell and the name of the Moravian Brüdergemeine.[9]

In colloquial use the plural became ironic and scornful, “those fellows”.[9][10] Der große Bruder became the name of an all-powerful, watching state after George Orwell's Big Brother in 1984.[9][10] brüderlich (Old High German bruoderlīh, 9th century) and Bruderschaft (bruoderscaf, 9th century) are old, while Brüderlichkeit spread from the 1770s, with Lavater in 1776, as a rendering of French fraternité.[7][9] The German student word Corpsbruder is recorded in English from 1904, and Tok Pisin has bruder “lay brother”.[11]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 8th century – The gloss germanus proder is the first record.[8]
  • 881/882 – The Ludwigslied uses bruoder.[8]
  • 9th century – bruoderlīh “brotherly” and bruoderscaf “brotherhood” are recorded.[7]
  • 1776 – Lavater uses Brüderlichkeit for French fraternité.[9]
  • 19th century – Gebrüder becomes common in the names of firms.[7]
  • 1904 – corpsbruder is first recorded in English.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. brother: a male person with the same parents as another.[10][1]
  2. (elevated) A fellow human being, someone one feels closely bound to.[10][12]
  3. A monk or friar, especially one without priestly ordination; also as a title before a name: Bruder Thomas.[10][1]
  4. (colloquial, derogatory) A fellow, a guy, usually of doubtful character: ein zwielichtiger Bruder.[10]

Word family

  • brüderlich
  • Brüderlichkeit
  • Bruderschaft
  • Brüderschaft
  • Gebrüder
  • verbrüdern
  • Halbbruder
  • Stiefbruder
  • Bruderliebe
  • Brudermord
  • Frater
  • fraternisieren
  • English brother

Usage notes

Unter Brüdern (colloquial, joking) means “honestly, without overcharging”;[10][13] Adelung already recorded it in a statement of price.[10][13] Bruder Lustig and Bruder Leichtfuß name a carefree, easy-going man.[10][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 2, 385
  3. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 369
  4. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 417
  5. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 155
  6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  8. ^ a b c d e Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 5, 875
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
  12. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  13. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 1215