brother

Pronunciation: /ˈbɹʌðɚ/

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a male with the same parents as someone else
  2. noun a male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or religion or other group)
  3. noun a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities

Etymology

PIE word *bʰréh₂tēr Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr Proto-Germanic *brōþēr Proto-West Germanic *brōþer Old English brōþor Middle English brother English brother Inherited from Middle English broder, brodir, brother, brothir, broþer, broðer, from Old English brōþor, brōþur, brōðer, brōður, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (“brother”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (“brother”). Doublet of bhai, bru, frater, friar, pal, and vai. Cognates Cognate with Scots breeder, bridder, brither, broder, brother, bruther (“brother”), Yola brover, brower (“brother”), North Frisian brouder, bruler, Bröđer (“brother”), Saterland Frisian Brour, Brúur (“brother”), West Frisian broer (“brother”), Alemannic German briöder, bruder, brueder, bröder, Brüeder, Brüädär (“brother”), Bavarian pruadar, prueder, pruider (“brother”), Central Franconian Broder (“brother”), Cimbrian pruadar, pruudar (“brother”), Dutch broeder, broer (“brother”), German Bruder (“brother”), German Low German Broor (“brother”), Limburgish broor, Broër (“brother”), Luxembourgish Brudder (“brother; monk”), Mòcheno pruader (“brother”), Vilamovian brüder (“brother”), Yiddish ברודער (bruder, “brother”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish broder, bror (“brother”), Elfdalian bruoðer (“brother”), Faroese and Icelandic bróðir (“brother”), Crimean Gothic bruder (“brother”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐌰𐍂 (brōþar, “brother”); also Breton breur (“brother”), Cornish broder (“brother”), Irish bráthair (“brother”), Manx braar (“brother; friar, monk”), Scottish Gaelic bràthair (“brother”), Welsh brawd (“brother”), Latin frāter (“brother; sibling”), Ancient Greek βρά (brá, “brother”), φρᾱ́τηρ (phrā́tēr, “brother, citizen, clansman, kinsman”), Phrygian βρατερε (bratere, “brother”), Lydian 𐤡𐤭𐤠𐤱𐤭𐤳𐤦𐤳 (prafršiš, “brother”), Latgalian bruoļs (“brother”), Latvian brālis (“brother”), Lithuanian brólis (“brother”), Old Prussian brāti, brote (“brother”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian брат (brat, “brother”), Czech bratr (“brother”), Polish, Slovak, and Slovene brat (“brother”), Serbo-Croatian бра̏т, brȁt (“brother; buddy, mate”), Armenian ապեր (aper), ախպար (axpar), ախպեր (axper), եղբայր (eġbayr, “brother; buddy”), Baluchi برات (barát, “brother”), Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish برا (bra, “brother”), Northern Kurdish bira (“as a brother”), Ossetian ӕрвад (ærvad), ӕрвадӕ (ærvadæ, “brother”), Pashto ورور (wror, “brother”), Persian برادر (barādar, birādar / barâdar), برار (birār / berâr), وردار (vardâr, “brother; comrade; dude”), Ashkun břa (“younger brother”), Kamkata-viri břo (“brother”), Tregami brā (“brother”), Waigali brā, břā (“brother”), Tocharian A pracar (“brother”), Tocharian B procer (“brother”), Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother; friend”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

blood brother

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
male sibling
Narrower (hyponyms)
stepbrother, little brother, big brother
Opposite (antonyms)
sister

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