Meanings
nounbrotherhood (countable and uncountable, plural brotherhoods)
plural brotherhoods
- countableuncountableThe state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).
brotherdom
1 more example
"Read lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you. "Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrible and deadly for us as your "friendship and brotherhood."
2022 September 11, Scott McDonald, quoting President Volodymyr Zelensky, “Cold, Hunger and Darkness in Ukraine 'Not as Terrible' as Russia: Zelensky”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2022 - countableuncountableAn association of people for any purpose, such as a society of monks; a fraternity.
James formed a kind of brotherhood for ex-pats who were working in Valencia.
- countableuncountableAll the people engaged in the same business, especially those of the same profession
the legal brotherhood
1 more example
the medical brotherhood
- countableuncountablePeople, or (poetically) things, of the same kind.
a brotherhood of venerable trees
1800, William Wordsworth, Degenerate Douglas
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
irrelationshipnon-fraternity
nounpeople engaged in a particular occupation
Similar
Broader
nounan organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishbrōþorrǣden“brotherhood, fellowship”
- Middle Englishbrotherhod
- Englishbrotherhood
From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhood, fellowship”), equivalent to brother + -red (see brotherred). More at brother, -red. Piecewise doublet of friarhood.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans broederskap, broederskap
- broederskapstate of being brothers or a brother
- broederskapan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Ancient Greek ἀδελφότης
- ἀδελφότης (adelphótēs)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Arabic أُخُوَّة
- أُخُوَّة (ʔuḵuwwa)state of being brothers or a brother
Bengali বেরাদরী
- বেরাদরী (beradori)state of being brothers or a brother
Bulgarian бра́тство, бра́тство
- бра́тство (brátstvo)state of being brothers or a brother
- бра́тство (brátstvo)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Catalan fraternitat, germanor
- fraternitatstate of being brothers or a brother
- germanorstate of being brothers or a brother
Chinese Mandarin 哥們義氣 /哥们义气
- 哥們義氣 /哥们义气 (gēmen yìqì)state of being brothers or a brother
Czech bratrství
- bratrstvístate of being brothers or a brother
Danish broderskab, broderskab
- broderskabstate of being brothers or a brother
- broderskaban association of any purpose, a fraternity
- broderskabpersons of a like kind
Dutch broederschap, broederschap
- broederschapstate of being brothers or a brother
- broederschapan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Esperanto frateco, frataro
- fratecostate of being brothers or a brother
- frataroan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Finnish veljeys, veljeskunta
- veljeysstate of being brothers or a brother
- veljeskuntaan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- ammattikuntabody of persons engaged in same business
- veljeskuntapersons of a like kind
French fraternité, confrérie
- fraternitéstate of being brothers or a brother
- confrériean association of any purpose, a fraternity
- fraternitéan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- fraternitépersons of a like kind
German Bruderschaft, Bruderschaft
- Bruderschaftstate of being brothers or a brother
- Bruderschaftan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- Kammerbody of persons engaged in same business
Greek αδελφοσύνη, αδελφότητα
- αδελφοσύνη (adelfosýni)state of being brothers or a brother
- αδελφότητα (adelfótita)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
- αδελφάτο (adelfáto)persons of a like kind
Hebrew אחווה \ אַחֲוָה, אחווה \ אַחֲוָה
- אחווה \ אַחֲוָה (akhavá)state of being brothers or a brother
- אחווה \ אַחֲוָה (akhavá)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Hindi बंधुत्व
- बंधुत्व (bandhutva)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Hungarian testvériség, testvériség
- testvériségstate of being brothers or a brother
- testvériségan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- testvériségpersons of a like kind
Irish bráithreachas
- bráithreachasan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Italian fratellanza, fratellanza
- fratellanzastate of being brothers or a brother
- fratellanzaan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Japanese 兄弟の間柄
- 兄弟の間柄 (kyōdai no aidagara)state of being brothers or a brother
Korean 형제간, 형제지간
- 형제간 (hyeongjegan)state of being brothers or a brother
- 형제지간 (hyeongjejigan)state of being brothers or a brother
Latin frāternitās
- frāternitāsstate of being brothers or a brother
Norwegian brorskap
- brorskapan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Norwegian Bokmål brorskap
- brorskapstate of being brothers or a brother
Persian برادری
- برادری (barâdari)state of being brothers or a brother
Polish braterstwo, bractwo
- braterstwostate of being brothers or a brother
- bractwoan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Portuguese irmandade, fraternidade
- irmandadestate of being brothers or a brother
- fraternidadestate of being brothers or a brother
- irmandadean association of any purpose, a fraternity
- fraternidadean association of any purpose, a fraternity
Romanian fraternitate, frăție
- fraternitatestate of being brothers or a brother
- frățiestate of being brothers or a brother
- fraternitatean association of any purpose, a fraternity
Russian бра́тство, бра́тство
- бра́тство (brátstvo)state of being brothers or a brother
- бра́тство (brátstvo)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Slovak bratstvo, bratstvo
- bratstvostate of being brothers or a brother
- bratstvoan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Spanish fraternidad, hermandad
- fraternidadstate of being brothers or a brother
- hermandadan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- cofradíaan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Swedish broderskap, brödraskap
- broderskapstate of being brothers or a brother
- brödraskapan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Tagalog kapatiran
- kapatiranan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Thai ภราดรภาพ, ภราดรภาพ
- ภราดรภาพstate of being brothers or a brother
- ภราดรภาพan association of any purpose, a fraternity
Turkish kardeşlik, biraderlik
- kardeşlikstate of being brothers or a brother
- biraderlikstate of being brothers or a brother
- kardeşlikan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- birlikan association of any purpose, a fraternity
- kardeşlikbody of persons engaged in same business
- birlikbody of persons engaged in same business
- dernekbody of persons engaged in same business
- lokalbody of persons engaged in same business
- cemiyetbody of persons engaged in same business
- kardeşlikpersons of a like kind
- birlikpersons of a like kind
Ukrainian брате́рство, бра́тство
- брате́рство (bratérstvo)state of being brothers or a brother
- бра́тство (brátstvo)state of being brothers or a brother
- брате́рство (bratérstvo)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
- бра́тство (brátstvo)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Vietnamese tình anh em, hữu ái
- tình anh emstate of being brothers or a brother
- hữu áian association of any purpose, a fraternity
Welsh brawdoliaeth, brawdoliaethau
- brawdoliaethstate of being brothers or a brother
- brawdoliaethaustate of being brothers or a brother
Yiddish ברידערשאַפֿט
- ברידערשאַפֿט (bridershaft)an association of any purpose, a fraternity
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with brotherhood
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
brotherhood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brotherhood
MLA
“brotherhood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brotherhood. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brotherhood,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brotherhood.
Source: brotherhood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.