fraternity

[ fruh-tur-ni-tee ]

/ frəˈtɜr nɪ ti /

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.

Nearby words

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

Examples from the Web for fraternity

And an anonymous junior in a fraternity at Emory University feels similarly.
Fraternities in a Post-UVA World|Samantha Allen|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
"Dead" means that he has left the fraternity and is trying to live respectably.
Tramping with Tramps|Josiah Flynt
Shorts, Spuddy and Swipes are in disgrace at the fraternity.
Tess of the Storm Country|Grace Miller White
Liberty and fraternity were the two springers of the new arch; its keystone was to be equality.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
A certain learned theological bishop of that fraternity, a warm controversialist, long since dead, was of an amorous disposition.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction|Various
He belonged to no fraternity, and except on the athletic field he kept out of all our genial life.
The Harbor|Ernest Poole

British Dictionary definitions for fraternity

fraternity

/ (frəˈtɜːnɪtɪ) /

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

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.

fraternity

noun, plural fra·ter·ni·ties.

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Nearby words

Origin of fraternity

Examples from the Web for fraternity

fraternity

noun plural -ties

fraternity