confraternity

C2+ Topic:Religion & Belief

US /ˌkɑnfrəˈtɝnɪti/ UK /ˌkɒnfrəˈtɜːnɪti/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a brotherhood, especially a religious or charitable association

The confraternity tended the sick during the plague years.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a brotherhood, especially a... brotherhood fellowship fraternity sodality guild association society

Word family

Derived forms confraternal

Related forms fraternity fraternalfraternizeconfrere

Etymology

From Medieval Latin confraternitas, from con- ('together') + fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from frater ('brother').

confraternitas Latin frater Latin *bʰréh₂tēr Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief Word Formation & Derivatives

# confraternity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˌkɑnfrəˈtɝnɪti
**IPA (UK):** ˌkɒnfrəˈtɜːnɪti

## Meanings
1. a brotherhood, especially a religious or charitable association

## Examples
- The confraternity tended the sick during the plague years.

## Synonyms
- brotherhood
- fellowship
- fraternity
- sodality
- guild
- association
- society

## Derived Forms
- confraternal

## Related Forms
- fraternity
- fraternal
- fraternize
- confrere

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: confraternitas
- Root: frater
- Root: *bʰréh₂tēr

## Etymology
From Medieval Latin confraternitas, from con- ('together') + fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from frater ('brother').

## AI Etymology
Confraternity comes from Medieval Latin confraternitas, from con- ('together') + fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from frater ('brother'). The historical trail runs through confraternitas in Latin, frater in Latin, and *bʰréh₂tēr in Proto-Indo-European. Morphologically, confraternity is transparent: it draws on Medieval Latin confraternitas, from con- ('together') + fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from frater ('brother'). Used as a noun, confraternity now means "a brotherhood, especially a religious or charitable association", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as confraternal and related forms such as fraternity, fraternal, fraternize, and confrere. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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