brother

English Online Dictionary. What means brother‎? What does brother mean?

English

Alternative forms

• brotha, brudda (Jamaica, African-American Vernacular)
• brothah, brothuh
• bruvver (Cockney, MLE)
• broth'r (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English brother, from Old English brōþor, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. Doublet of bhai, bru, frater, friar, pal, and vai.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌðə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌðɚ/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɐðə/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʊðə/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʊðəɹ/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌðəɹ/
• (th-fronting) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌvə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ʌðə(ɹ)

Noun

brother (plural brothers or (archaic in most senses) brethren)

2. Son of the same parents as another person.
3. A male having at least one parent in common with another (see half-brother, stepbrother).
4. A male fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc.
   • 1975, New King James Version, Deuteronomy 23:19

     You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.

6. (informal) A form of address to a man.

   Hyponym: my brother in Christ

7. (African-American Vernacular) A fellow black man.
8. Somebody, usually male, connected by a common cause, situation, or affection.
9. Someone who is a peer, whether male or female.
10. (poetic) Someone who is a kinsman or shares the same patriarch.

Usage notes

• The plural “brethren” (cf. “sistren”, “sistern”) is not used for biological brothers in contemporary English (although it was in older usage). It still finds use, however, in the meaning of “members of a religious order”. It is also sometimes used in other figurative senses, e.g. “adherents of the same religion”, “countrymen”, and the like.

Hypernyms

• (son of common parents): sibling

Coordinate terms

• (with regards to gender): sister

Derived terms

(Abbreviations): bro, brah, bra, bruh, bruv, bruvver

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

brother (third-person singular simple present brothers, present participle brothering, simple past and past participle brothered)

1. (transitive) To treat as a brother.

Translations

Interjection

brother

1. Expressing exasperation.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• broþer, broþir, broþur, broder, broðer, brothir, brothur, broiþer, bruther, brodir, broder, brothre, broþre, brodyr
• (Ormulum) broþerr

Etymology

From Old English brōþor, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. Doublet of frere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbroːðər/

Noun

brother (plural brether or brethren or brotheren or (rare) brothers, genitive brother or brothers)

1. A brother or brother-in-law; a male sibling.
2. A (Christian) man (i.e. as a "brother in life/brother in Christ").
3. A blood brother; one in a mutual pact of loyalty between two.
4. Another member of a religious community or order (when one is a member)
5. Another member of a guild or craft association (when one is a member)
6. A male individual who one has a close platonic relationship with.
7. (rare) One of one's peers as a ruler; (another) ruler.
8. (rare) A relative or family member who is a man.
9. (rare, alchemy) Something similar to something else.

Related terms

• brotherhede
• brother-in-lawe
• brotherles
• brotherly
• brotherwort

Descendants

• English: brother (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: brither, bruther, broder, bruder
• Yola: brover, brower

References

• “brọ̄ther, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-21.

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *brōþer.

Noun

brōther m

1. brother

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Amrum: bruder

  Föhr: bruler

  Northern Goesharder: (Hoolmer) broor, (Hoorninger) brår

  Southern Goesharder: brööðer

  Hallig: bröör

  Halunder: Bruur

  Mooring: brouder

  Sylt: Bröđer

• Saterland Frisian: Brúur, Brour (Strukelje)
• West Frisian: broer

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English brother. Doublet of frade, freire, frei, bro, and brada.

Pronunciation

Noun

brother m (plural brothers)

1. (slang) bro (close friend)

   Esse cara é o meu brother. ― That guy is my bro.

Derived terms

• brotheragem

Scots

Noun

brother

1. alternative form of brither

References

• “brother, n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English brother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɾodeɾ/ [ˈbɾo.ð̞eɾ]
• Rhymes: -odeɾ
• Syllabification: bro‧ther

Noun

brother m (plural brothers)

1. (colloquial, US, Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia) bro, dude, brother

   Synonyms: (vulgar) cabrón, mano

Further reading

• “brother”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010