brother
Americannoun
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brothers,
plural
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brethren
plural (Archaic)
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a male offspring having both parents in common with another offspring; a male sibling.
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Also called half brother. a male offspring having only one parent in common with another offspring.
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a stepbrother.
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a male numbered among the same kinship group, nationality, ethnicity, profession, etc., as another; an associate; a fellow member, fellow countryman, fellow man, etc..
a fraternity brother.
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Ecclesiastical.
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(often initial capital letter) a male numbered among the lay members of a religious organization that has a priesthood.
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a man who devotes himself to the duties of a religious order without taking holy orders, or while preparing for holy orders.
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brothers, all members of a particular racial or ethnic group, or of the human race in general.
All men are brothers.
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Brother, can you spare a dime?
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Informal. a term used to refer to or address a fellow Black man; soul brother.
interjection
noun
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a male person having the same parents as another person
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short for half-brother stepbrother
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a male person belonging to the same group, profession, nationality, trade union, etc, as another or others; fellow member
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( as modifier )
brother workers
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comrade; friend: used as a form of address
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Christianity
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a member of a male religious order who undertakes work for the order without actually being in holy orders
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a lay member of a male religious order
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interjection
Synonym Usage
Brothers, brethren are plurals of brother. Brothers are kinsmen, sons of the same parents: My mother lives with my brothers. Brethren, now archaic in the foregoing sense, is used of male members of a congregation or of a fraternal organization: The brethren will meet at the church.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of brother
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brōthor; cognate with Dutch broeder, German Bruder, Old Norse brōthir, Gothic brothar, Sanskrit bhrātṛ, Greek phrā́tēr, Latin frāter, Old Irish bráthair, Old Church Slavonic bratrŭ
Vocabulary lists containing brother
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before the winner, Pierce Charles had saved a controversial penalty from Georgia captain Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and his brother Shea had an appeal waved away at the other end.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
After high school, Rosen followed his brother, Harold, to the California Institute of Technology, where he studied electrical engineering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Years later, when Princess Diana announced to her brother that she was getting divorced, he expressed support but also concern.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The implication in your letter is that you and your brother had very different views about how to manage your father’s life and/or finances.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
“We did. And I wish I had time to chew the fat again, but my brother and I are going out to buy a typewriter.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Even with recent gains, value stocks remain incredibly cheap compared with their growth brethren.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
After bidding a hearty olé to my literary brethren, I reach Café Gijón, outside the bounds of Las Letras, but not its spirit.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
The U.S. players have made it abundantly clear that they respect their Canadian brethren.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
Our chickens, on the other hand, are treated abominably, packed in tightly with their germy brethren, raised in squalor, pumped with hormones, and only made clean at the end.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026
Despite the fact that several hundred of its brethren had just died, it did not back down.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Four siblings — two brothers and two sisters — had grown up in that home.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
When we need to defend, it's just to defend like brothers.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
In 2013 the twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi founded a nonprofit called Code.org.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Hall of Fame football coach Paul Knox had a situation early in his coaching days at Dorsey dealing with two brothers and figuring out what you’re supposed to do when they’re different.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
“The boys I live with, the Garner brothers, they like to stick their slimy boogers and chewed-up gum everywhere.”
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
