fraternity

[fruh-tur-ni-tee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fraternity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural fra·ter·ni·ties.

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.

a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood.

any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc.: the medical fraternity.

an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes; sodality.

the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood: liberty, equality, and fraternity.

the relation of a brother or between brothers.

Origin of fraternity

1300–50; Middle English fraternite < Latin frāternitās. See fraternal, -ity

Related formsin·ter·fra·ter·ni·ty, adjectivenon·fra·ter·ni·ty, noun, plural non·fra·ter·ni·ties.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fraternity

sorority, camaraderie, guild, fellowship, club, house, society, affiliation, sisterhood, order, kinship, frat

Examples from the Web for fraternity

Contemporary Examples of fraternity

And an anonymous junior in a fraternity at Emory University feels similarly.
Fraternities in a Post-UVA World
Samantha Allen
December 12, 2014
And how do fraternity members feel about their organizations being on the chopping block?
Fraternities in a Post-UVA World
Samantha Allen
December 12, 2014
One male student told me about a teammate in a fraternity who struggled with an eating disorder.
Stepford Sororities: The Pressures of USC’s Greek Life
Maya Richard Craven
November 17, 2014
From speaking with USC fraternity brothers, it almost seems worse for the boys.
Stepford Sororities: The Pressures of USC’s Greek Life
Maya Richard Craven
November 17, 2014
Earlier this year, the fraternity news website Total Frat Move declared Fireball “the most popular shot for college students.”
Europeans Recall Fireball Whiskey Over a Sweetener Also Used in Antifreeze
Tim Mak
October 28, 2014

Historical Examples of fraternity

We sense the call of the human heart for fellowship, fraternity, and cooperation.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
For the cause of just fraternity, and the equal rights of man.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
In the cause of just fraternity, and the equal rights of man!
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
For the cause of just fraternity, and the equal rights of man!
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
And sneer'd at just fraternity, and the equal rights of man.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various

British Dictionary definitions for fraternity

fraternity

noun plural -ties

a body of people united in interests, aims, etcthe teaching fraternity Gender-neutral form: community

brotherhood

US and Canadian a secret society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fraternity

early 14c., "body of men associated by common interest," from Old French fraternité (12c.), from Latin fraternitatem (nominative fraternitas) "brotherhood," from fraternus "brotherly," from frater "brother," from PIE *bhrater (see brother). Meaning "state or condition of being as brothers" is from late 15c. College Greek-letter organization sense is from 1777, first in reference to Phi Beta Kappa.