fraternity

American  

[fruh-tur-ni-tee] / frəˈtɜr nɪ ti /

noun

plural

fraternities

1. 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.

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

3. any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc..

   the medical fraternity.

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

5. the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood.

   liberty, equality, and fraternity.

6. the relation of a brother or between brothers.

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fraternity British  

/ frəˈtɜːnɪtɪ /

noun

1. Gender-neutral form: community.  a body of people united in interests, aims, etc

   the teaching fraternity

2. brotherhood

3. a secret society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club

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Other Word Forms

• interfraternity adjective
• nonfraternity noun

Etymology

Origin of fraternity

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

Example Sentences

He went on to study government at Harvard University, where he got involved in Republican politics and joined a fraternity.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Does he socialise much with the mysterious moss fraternity?

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

University of Miami fraternity brothers may have used insider information to bet on Kalshi regarding Jeff Bezos’ Super Bowl attendance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

The fraternity attracts the children of the very wealthy, including Evan Whitesell, the stepson of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Then there was movement and the borning once more of the transcendent fraternity that comes between athletes in the unseen moments when they move together toward the lights of an arena and the waiting crowd.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Related Words

• camaraderie
• guild
• sorority