fraternity

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /frəˈtɜrnɪti/ UK /frəˈtɜːnɪti/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a group of people with shared interests; brotherly fellowship

He joined a college fraternity in his first year.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a group of people with... brotherhood fellowship society guild association brethren camaraderie sodality

Opposites

sororityenmity discord

Word family

Related forms fraternalfraternizefratricide

Simplified etymology

Fraternity entered English in the Middle English period from a formation based on Latin frater, “brother.” Friar and the later adjective fraternal derive from the same source.

Etymology

From Old French fraternite, from Latin fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from fraternus ('brotherly'), from frater ('brother').

frÄternitÄs Latin frÄter Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# fraternity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /frəˈtɜrnɪti/
**IPA (UK):** /frəˈtɜːnɪti/

## Meanings
1. a group of people with shared interests; brotherly fellowship

## Examples
- He joined a college fraternity in his first year.

## Synonyms
- brotherhood
- fellowship
- society
- guild
- association
- brethren
- camaraderie
- sodality

## Antonyms
- sorority
- enmity
- discord

## Related Forms
- fraternal
- fraternize
- fratricide

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: frÄternitÄs
- Root: frÄter

## Etymology
From Old French fraternite, from Latin fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from fraternus ('brotherly'), from frater ('brother').

## AI Etymology
Fraternity comes from Old French fraternite, from Latin fraternitas ('brotherhood'), from fraternus ('brotherly'), from frater ('brother'). The etymological trail includes Latin frÄternitÄs and Latin frÄter. As a noun, fraternity names a group of people with shared interests; brotherly fellowship. The same family is visible in related forms such as fraternal, fraternize, and fratricide.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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