confraternity
Americannoun
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a lay brotherhood devoted to some purpose, especially to religious or charitable service.
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a society or organization, especially of men, united for some purpose or in some profession.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of confraternity
1425–75; late Middle English confraternite < Medieval Latin confrāternitās, derivative of confrāter ( see confrere), on the model of Latin frāternitās fraternity
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 subject was popular among artists during the Renaissance, and Carpaccio told the overwrought story in a sequence of nine large canvases designed for a confraternity building known as the Scuola di Sant Orsola.
From Washington Post • Dec. 9, 2022
A friend of his was robbed by a confraternity member resulting in a feud.
From BBC • Jun. 1, 2020
A confraternity of ruddy-faced, brush-cut older men—wine lovers from Chinon, with scarlet robes and medals dangling from their necks—made their way through the crush.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 4, 2016
The band's hardcore fans, more used to the confraternity and real ale of the band's Gentlemen of the Road gigs, will find this step-up to be a mixed blessing.
From The Guardian • Dec. 16, 2012
It is a testament to our confraternity, however, that a curious ground of agreement was eventually reached: the necessity of concealing all mourning at the smallpox burials, and displaying only dancing and festival triumph.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
