fraternity
Americannoun
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a local or national organization of male students, primarily for social purposes, usually with secret initiation and rites and a name composed of two or three Greek letters.
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a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood.
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any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc..
the medical fraternity.
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an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes; sodality.
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the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood.
liberty, equality, and fraternity.
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the relation of a brother or between brothers.
noun
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Gender-neutral form: community. a body of people united in interests, aims, etc
the teaching fraternity
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brotherhood
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a secret society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of fraternity
1300–50; Middle English fraternite < Latin frāternitās. See fraternal, -ity
Explanation
A fraternity is a group of people who work in the same industry or have similar careers. Your dad's fraternity of firefighters holds lots of charity events and get-togethers. Most often, a fraternity is a social club or group made up of men, but it can refer to any organization of people with something in common. At a college or university, a fraternity is a club for men that's by invitation only. Members of these frats, as they are called, often live together in one house and socialize primarily with each other. Fraternity comes from the Latin word fraternitas, meaning "brotherhood."
Vocabulary lists containing fraternity
Anthem
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Stand in "Solidarity": 30 Words to Remind us English is at Least 30 Percent French
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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.
The pre-fight feeling was that this occasion bordered on the absurd as a sanctioned world title contest, but Verhoeven went a long way to proving the boxing fraternity wrong.
From BBC • May 23, 2026
Donald Gibb, the actor who played the hulking fraternity bro Ogre in “Revenge of the Nerds” and Ray “Tiny” Jackson in “Bloodsport,” has died.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
"Whilst he may no longer be able to say he's run all the London Marathons, he will always be part of that fraternity as one of the original 42," he says.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
Alarmed by the growing jailhouse fraternity, authorities tightened prison controls and transferred inmates to other states.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
The Boy Scouts was like a fraternity and run by fathers.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
