fraternity

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fraternite,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French fraternité, also fraternitee,^[5][6][7] and directly borrowed from Latin frāternitās (“brotherhood”),^[3][8][4] from frāternus (“brotherly”),^[2][5][6] from frāter (“brother”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhrater- (“brother”).^[7] The French word is recorded in the 12th century,^[7] and the Anglo-Norman fraternité from about 1136 for brotherhood, a community and a craft guild.^[9] It is related to fraternal, fraternize and confraternity.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A body of men organized for religious or devout purposes: about 1330, in Robert Mannyng's Chronicle.^[5][3] Etymonline gives "body of men associated by common interest", early 14th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English a fraternity was above all a religious order or guild, and a letter of fraternity granted the holder the privileges of such an order;^[3] the OED records a guild or company from 1389.^[5] Chaucer used the word twice, for a guild.^[10] The abstract senses came next: the relation of brothers (1390, in Gower) and brotherliness, from Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1470–85).^[5][7] A body of men of the same class or occupation is recorded from 1565,^[5] and Johnson (1755) had "men of the same class or character".^[11] In the United States the word was applied from 1777 to a social association of college students, at first to Phi Beta Kappa, usually named with Greek letters,^[5][7] the sense Merriam-Webster describes as a men's student organization with secret rites.^[8] Francis Galton used it in 1889 for the brothers and sisters of a family collectively.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – a religious brotherhood.^[5]
• 1389 – a guild or company.^[5]
• 1390 – the relation of brothers, in Gower.^[5]
• 1470–85 – brotherliness, in Malory.^[5]
• 1565 – a body of men of the same occupation or pursuits.^[5]
• 1777 – a college students' society (Phi Beta Kappa).^[5][7]
• 1889 – the siblings of a family, in Galton.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A group of people joined by a common purpose or interest; a society or guild.^[8][5]
2. The people of one profession or pursuit taken together: the legal fraternity.^[8][5][12]
3. A religious brotherhood.^[8][5][3]
4. (US) A social organization of male college students, usually named with Greek letters.^[8][5][7]
5. The relationship or feeling of brothers; brotherliness.^[5][11]

Word family

• interfraternity
• nonfraternity

Related words

• fraternal
• fraternize
• fratricide
• fraternity house
• sorority
• confraternity

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press