BROTHER • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Brother

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/brˈəðər/ Listen

noun

Brother n. (pl. brothers or brethren)

1.

A male person who has the same father and mother with another person, or who has one of them only. In the latter case he is more definitely called a half brother, or brother of the half blood. Note: A brother having the same mother but different fathers is called a uterine brother, and one having the same father but a different mother is called an agnate brother, or in (Law) a consanguine brother. A brother having the same father and mother is called a brother-german or full brother. The same modifying terms are applied to sister or sibling. "Two of us in the churchyard lie, My sister and my brother."

2.

One related or closely united to another by some common tie or interest, as of rank, profession, membership in a society, toil, suffering, etc.; used among judges, clergymen, monks, physicians, lawyers, professors of religion, etc. "A brother of your order." "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother."

3.

One who, or that which, resembles another in distinctive qualities or traits of character. "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster." "That April morn Of this the very brother." Note: In Scripture, the term brother is applied to a kinsman by blood more remote than a son of the same parents, as in the case of Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Laban. In a more general sense, brother or brethren is used for fellow-man or fellow-men. "For of whom such massacre Make they but of their brethren, men of men?"

Brother Jonathan, a humorous designation for the people of the United States collectively. The phrase is said to have originated from Washington's referring to the patriotic Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, as "Brother Jonathan."

Blood brother. See under Blood.

verb

Brother v. t. (past & past part. brothered) To make a brother of; to call or treat as a brother; to admit to a brotherhood.

See images of 'Brother'

Etymology of 'Brother'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Brother" Quotes from Famous Books

... From that moment my heart hardened within me, and my life was filled with loathing. Day and night, land and sea, labour and rest, food and sleep, were alike hateful to me. It was the curse of Cain, and that my brother had pardoned me made it lie none the lighter. Peace on earth was for me no more, and goodwill towards men was dead in my heart for ever. Remorse softens some natures; but it poisoned mine. I hated all mankind; but above all mankind I hated the woman who ...

— Mugby Junction • Charles Dickens

... beautiful, juicy, macaroni-like morsel into the beak of number one, who began to gobble it down for fear anyone else should get a taste; but number four saw a chance, and snapped hold of the other end of the worm and swallowed ever so much, till at last he and his brother had their heads close together; when they began to pull and quarrel—quarrel and pull—till Mrs Spottleover turned her own beak into a pair of scissors, snipped the disputed morsel in two, boxed both the offenders' ears, said she would take the worm away—but did not, as it was all gone—and ...

— Featherland - How the Birds lived at Greenlawn • George Manville Fenn

... approached the sprawling green stone house on Michigan Avenue, there were signs of unusual animation about the entrance. As he reached the steps a hansom deposited the bulky figure of Brome Porter, Mrs. Hitchcock's brother-in-law. The older man scowled interrogatively at the young doctor, as if to say: 'You here? What the devil of a crowd has Alec raked together?' But the two men exchanged essential courtesies and entered ...

— The Web of Life • Robert Herrick

... a bird before a snake. What fate had brought her there? The simplest thing in the world. Napoleon was then making his last efforts. My father, who foresaw the return of the Bourbons, had come to Paris with my mother to advise my brother, who was employed in the imperial diplomatic service. My mother was to take me back with her, out of the way of dangers which seemed, to those who followed the march of events intelligently, to threaten the capital. In a ...

— The Lily of the Valley • Honore de Balzac

... immediately sent over to have Governor Hutchinson removed from office, but for a while government took no action. After a time the letters got into the London newspapers with the most deplorable result. One Thomas Whately, brother of the gentleman to whom they had been addressed, was accused of purloining the letters and sending them to America. This caused a duel, and a second duel was about to be fought when Franklin published a note in the "Public Advertiser" avowing that the letters had not passed ...

— Benjamin Franklin • Paul Elmer More

Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com