frère French · revision 16399

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Serments de Strasbourg|origins=ine-pro *bʰréh₂tēr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fʁɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /fɾæ(ɾ)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''frère''' ''m'' (plural frères)^(Wiktionary)

+ Early Old French ''fradre'' (842), then ''fredre'' and [[m|fro|frere]] (1080).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|frere]], [[inh|la|frāter|t=brother]], accusative “frātrem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 764a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word continues [[ine-pro|*bʰréh₂tēr|t=brother]], as do [[grc|φράτηρ|tr=phrátēr|t=member of a brotherhood]], [[de|Bruder]] and [[en|brother]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) In the old patriarchal system the word probably named men of the same generation, not necessarily born of the same parents; for the narrower bond, Greek used [[m|grc|ἀδελφός|tr=adelphós]], and Latin “frāter germānus” “brother of the same blood”, whence [[es|hermano]] and [[pt|irmão]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Latin “frāter” also meant an ally, a friend and a member of a brotherhood, and Christians called one another so; hence it came to mean “monk”, the sense of [[it|frate]] and [[pt|frade]], while Italian “fratello” is a diminutive.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[oc|fraire]] and [[ro|frate]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''fradre'' in the Strasbourg Oaths (842), meaning a brother born of the same parents; the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''frere''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1050 the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' already uses it for a fellow human being, and, from 1174–1176 it named a member of a religious community, as in ''frères mineurs'' (about 1360) and ''frères prêcheurs''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Legal French distinguishes the ''frère germain'' (13th century), ''consanguin'' (14th century) and ''utérin'' (mid-15th century); ''frères de lait'' dates from 1538, ''frères ennemis'' from 1487 and ''faux frère'' from 1675.^(GLLF 1989) In familiar use it is a friend or comrade, ''vieux frère'' (early 20th century).^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Fradre'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – A fellow human being, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Frere'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1174–1176 – A member of a religious order.^(TLFi)

+ * 1487 – ''Frères ennemis''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1538 – ''Frères de lait''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1675 – ''Faux frère''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|brother]], a son of the same parents: ''frère aîné'', ''grand frère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fellow human being; a [[m|en|comrade]], a fellow member: ''frères d'armes'', ''(informal)'' bro, mate.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A member of a religious [[m|en|order]], a [[m|en|friar]] or lay brother: ''les frères des Écoles chrétiennes''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Faux frère'': a traitor, ''frères ennemis'': rivals of the same party.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beau-frère]]

+ * [[demi-frère]]

+ * [[frérot]]

+ * [[frairie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[frangin]]

+ * [[fraternel]]

+ * [[fraternité]]

+ * [[germain]]

+ * [[la|frāter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}