BROTHER (brethren)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: brethren   

• BROTHER (noun)
  The noun BROTHER has 5 senses:

1. a male with the same parents as someone else

2. a male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or religion or other group)

3. a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities

4. used as a term of address for those male persons engaged in the same movement

5. (Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a monk and used as form of address

  Familiarity information: BROTHER used as a noun is common.

• BROTHER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A male with the same parents as someone else

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

blood brother; brother

Context example:

my brother still lives with our parents

Hypernyms ("brother" is a kind of...):

male sibling (a sibling who is male)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brother"):

big brother (an older brother)

little brother (a younger brother)

half-brother; half brother; stepbrother (a brother who has only one parent in common with you)

Antonym:

sister (a female person who has the same parents as another person)

Derivation:

brotherly (like or characteristic of or befitting a brother)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or religion or other group)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

none of his brothers would betray him

Hypernyms ("brother" is a kind of...):

fellow member; member (one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization))

Domain category:

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brother"):

Freemason; Mason (a member of a widespread secret fraternal order pledged to mutual assistance and brotherly love)

Holonyms ("brother" is a member of...):

brotherhood; fraternity; sodality (people engaged in a particular occupation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

brother; buddy; chum; crony; pal; sidekick

Hypernyms ("brother" is a kind of...):

friend (a person you know well and regard with affection and trust)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brother"):

cobber (Australian term for a pal)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Used as a term of address for those male persons engaged in the same movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

brother; comrade

Context example:

Greetings, comrade!

Hypernyms ("brother" is a kind of...):

friend (a person you know well and regard with affection and trust)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a monk and used as form of address

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

a Benedictine Brother

Hypernyms ("Brother" is a kind of...):

monastic; monk (a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work)

Domain category:

Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church (the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy)

Derivation:

brotherhood (people engaged in a particular occupation)

 Context examples 

With some curiosity as to what could have sent a brother medico to us at such an hour, I followed Holmes into our sanctum.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any friends, not even his own brother.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And know, strange brother, when I tell thee the word of Ivan is the law, that I am thy friend and no friend of Ivan.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I had only one confidant—my brother Mycroft.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then I've a string of brothers,—I'm the youngest,—but they never helped nobody.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

In the middle of this period, Mars’ little brother Mercury will go retrograde from February 16 until March 9.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I made the captain a very low bow, and then, turning to the Dutchman, said, “I was sorry to find more mercy in a heathen, than in a brother christian.”

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

And I believe my brother was speaking on the subject when we—not very decently—interrupted him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Precious lot you know about dogs, her brother sneered; and I wish you’d leave me alone.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

He knew his two brothers and his two sisters very well.

(White Fang, by Jack London)