BROTHER • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Brother

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/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

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"Brother" Quotes from Famous Books

... d——d well 'from the front.'' Mr. COWELL, it appears, was an artist of no mean pretensions; and while engaged on one occasion in sketching a picturesque view of Stoke Church, he was interrupted in rather a novel manner by a brother actor named REYMES, somewhat akin, we fancy, to his ...

— The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, February 1844 - Volume 23, Number 2 • Various

... and improved, and finally bequeathed to his three sons. One died and the Ahab-like Earl took possession. Wishing to evict another for the purpose of throwing two farms into one, he offered the farm to the remaining brother in addition to his own. The man refused to ruin his brother. The Earl, to punish him, raised his rent from L35 to L70. Griffith's valuation of this farm is L29 5s. Another eviction from Milford was so pitiful in its cruelty that the compassion of the country was ...

— The Letters of "Norah" on her Tour Through Ireland • Margaret Dixon McDougall

... virility and vigor of the Germans as a race. Their national spirit also is wonderful, exceeded only perhaps by that of the Japanese. People who one day read the announcement of the death of a son, a father, or a brother, are seen the next day in the streets or cafes going about quietly, expressing or betraying neither sorrow nor regret. The loved one has died "fuer Gott, fuer Koenig, und fuer Vaterland." That is glory enough, and neither ...

— The Note-Book of an Attache - Seven Months in the War Zone • Eric Fisher Wood

... on a doubtful Embassy to the Almighty Monarch: But he receiv'd their first Instructions with better Address than they expected, and dismiss'd his Envoy first, killing one of Don Sebastian's Friends. Which so enrag'd the injur'd Brother, that his Strength and Resolution seem'd to be redoubled, and so animated his two surviving Companions, that (doubtless) they had gain'd a dishonourable Victory, had not Don Antonio accidentally come in to the Rescue; ...

— The Works of Aphra Behn - Volume V • Aphra Behn

... ever knew? I don't understand you," she replied. "My brother captured him at Appomattox, or near there, and named him Midnight, and Midnight he has ...

— Bricks Without Straw • Albion W. Tourgee

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