Etymologically
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fraternity

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 06:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /fɹəˈtɜːnɪti/[1]
  • US: /fɹəˈtɜɹnəti/[1]

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
  • 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