Etymologically
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brother

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈbrʌð.ə/, US /ˈbrʌð.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English brother, inherited from Old English brōþor,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr.[2][5] Its cognates include Old Frisian brōther, Old Saxon brōthar, Dutch broeder, German Bruder and Old Norse bróðir,[3][6][7] and Gothic has brōþar.[5][8] It is from Proto-Indo-European *bhrāter-,[2][9][5] the source also of Sanskrit bhrā́tṛ, Latin frāter, Greek φράτηρ (phrátēr, “member of a clan”), Old Irish bráthair and Old Church Slavonic bratrŭ.[5][8][7] Barnhart calls it one of the classic words of Indo-European etymology.[3] Etymonline notes that Greek ἀδελφός (adelphós) became the main word for “brother” as phrátēr came to mean a member of the same tribe, and that Spanish hermano is from Latin germānus (“full brother”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A son of the same parents: Old English brōþor, about 725, in Beowulf,[3] and in Middle English before 1121, in the Peterborough Chronicle.[3]

Semantic evolution

A man of the same ancestry is from the late 14th century,[2] and a fellow member of a society or guild from 1389.[10] A member of a religious order, a friar, is from about 1500.[2] The plural was variously brether, brethren and brothers in Middle English;[11] brethren survives for fellow members of a religion or society.[6] As a familiar term of address between men it is from 1912 in American slang, and as a term among Black Americans by 1973.[2] The verb “to treat as a brother” is from 1573.[11][8]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English brōþor (Beowulf).[3]
  • 1389 – a member of a society.[10]
  • late 14th century – a kinsman.[2]
  • c. 1500 – a friar.[2]
  • 1573 – verb, to treat as a brother.[11]
  • 1912 – a term of address.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A male who has the same parents as another, or one parent in common.
  2. A man who shares a common ancestry, allegiance or purpose with others; a fellow member of a group.
  3. (often Brother) A member of a male religious order, such as a friar or monk.
  4. (slang) A familiar term of address for a man.

Verb

  1. (rare) To treat or address as a brother.

Word family

  • brotherless
  • brotherlike
  • unbrothered
  • brotherhood
  • brotherly
  • brother-in-law
  • blood brother
  • Brother Jonathan
  • friar
  • fraternal
  • fraternity
  • brethren

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  11. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press