Brother

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Brother \Broth"er\ (br[u^][th]"[~e]r), n.; pl. {Brothers}
     (br[u^][th]"[~e]rz) or {Brethren} (br[e^][th]"r[e^]n). See
     {Brethren}. [OE. brother, AS. br[=o][eth]or; akin to OS.
     brothar, D. broeder, OHG. pruodar, G. bruder, Icel.
     br[=o][eth]ir, Sw. & Dan. broder, Goth. br[=o][thorn]ar, Ir.
     brathair, W. brawd, pl. brodyr, Lith. brolis, Lett. brahlis,


     Russ. brat', Pol. & Serv. brat, OSlav. bratr[u^], L. frater,
     Skr. bhr[=a]t[.r], Zend bratar brother, Gr. fra`thr, fra`twr,
     a clansman. The common plural is {Brothers}; in the solemn
     style, {Brethren}, OE. pl. brether, bretheren, AS. dative
     sing. br[=e][eth]er, nom. pl. br[=o][eth]or, br[=o][eth]ru.
     [root]258. Cf. {Friar}, {Fraternal}.]
     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}.
           [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
                 Two of us in the churchyard lie,
                 My sister and my brother.          --Wordsworth.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     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." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
              For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
              Shall be my brother.                  --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. One who, or that which, resembles another in distinctive
        qualities or traits of character.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He also that is slothful in his work is brother to
              him that is a great waster.           --Prov. xviii.
                                                    9.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              That April morn
              Of this the very brother.             --Wordsworth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 For of whom such massacre
                 Make they but of their brethren, men of men?
                                                    --Milton.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {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}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Brother \Broth"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Brothered}.]
     To make a brother of; to call or treat as a brother; to admit
     to a brotherhood. --Sir W. Scott.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  brother
       n 1: a male with the same parents as someone else; "my brother
            still lives with our parents" [syn: {blood brother}]
            [ant: {sister}]
       2: a male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or
          religion of other group); "none of his brothers would
          betray him"
       3: a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their
          activities [syn: {buddy}, {chum}, {crony}, {pal}, {sidekick}]
       4: used as a term of address for those male persons engaged in
          the same movement; "Greetings, comrade!" [syn: {comrade}]
       5: (Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a monk and used as
          form of address; "a Benedictine Brother"
       [also: {brethren} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  198 Moby Thesaurus words for "brother":
     Greek, abbacomes, abbot, acquaintance, adjunct, advocate,
     affiliate, ally, alter ego, analogon, analogue, ascetic, associate,
     aunt, auntie, backer, beadsman, bedfellow, belonger, best friend,
     blood brother, bosom friend, brethren, brother-in-arms, bub, bubba,
     bud, buddy, caloyer, card-carrier, card-carrying member,
     cardholder, casual acquaintance, catechumen, celibate, cenobite,
     charter member, chum, church member, churchman, churchwoman,
     close acquaintance, close copy, close friend, close match, clubber,
     clubman, clubwoman, coadjutor, cognate, cohort, colleague,
     committeeman, communicant, companion, compatriot, compeer,
     complement, comrade, confederate, confidant, confidante, confrere,
     congenator, congener, consociate, consort, conventioneer,
     conventioner, conventionist, conventual, conventual prior,
     coordinate, correlate, correlative, correspondent, counterpart,
     country cousin, cousin, cousin once removed, cousin twice removed,
     crony, daughter, dues-paying member, enlistee, enrollee,
     equivalent, familiar, father, favorer, fellow, fellow creature,
     fellow member, fellowman, first cousin, foster brother, frater,
     fraternity man, friar, friend, grand prior, grandnephew,
     grandniece, granduncle, great-aunt, great-uncle, guildsman,
     half brother, hermit, hieromonach, honorary member, image,
     initiate, inseparable friend, insider, intimate, joiner,
     kid brother, kin, kindred spirit, kinsman, laic, lay abbot,
     lay brother, lay sister, layman, laywoman, life member, like,
     likeness, lover, mate, member, mendicant, monastic, monk, mother,
     near duplicate, neighbor, nephew, niece, nuncle, nunks, nunky,
     obverse, one of us, other self, pal, palmer, parallel, parishioner,
     partisan, pendant, pickup, picture, pilgrim, pillar saint,
     pillarist, pledge, prior, reciprocal, relation, relative,
     religieux, religious, repository, second cousin, second self,
     secular, sibling, similitude, simulacrum, sis, sissy, sister,
     sister-german, sistern, socius, son, sorority girl, sorority woman,
     soul mate, stepbrother, stepsister, stylite, such, suchlike,
     supporter, sympathizer, tally, the like of, the likes of, twin,
     unc, uncle, uncs, uterine brother, well-wisher
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Brother
     (1.) In the natural and common sense (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:1, 19).
     
       (2.) A near relation, a cousin (Gen. 13:8; 14:16; Matt. 12:46;
     John 7:3; Acts 1:14; Gal. 1:19).
     
       (3.) Simply a fellow-countryman (Matt. 5:47; Acts 3:22; Heb.
     7:5).
     
       (4.) A disciple or follower (Matt. 25:40; Heb. 2:11, 12).
     
       (5.) One of the same faith (Amos 1:9; Acts 9:30; 11:29; 1 Cor.
     5:11); whence the early disciples of our Lord were known to each
     other as brethren.
     
       (6.) A colleague in office (Ezra 3:2; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1).
     
       (7.) A fellow-man (Gen. 9:5; 19:7; Matt. 5:22, 23, 24; 7:5;
     Heb. 2:17).
     
       (8.) One beloved or closely united with another in affection
     (2 Sam. 1:26; Acts 6:3; 1 Thess. 5:1). Brethren of Jesus (Matt.
     1:25; 12:46, 50: Mark 3:31, 32; Gal. 1:19; 1 Cor. 9:5, etc.)
     were probably the younger children of Joseph and Mary. Some have
     supposed that they may have been the children of Joseph by a
     former marriage, and others that they were the children of Mary,
     the Virgin's sister, and wife of Cleophas. The first
     interpretation, however, is the most natural.
     

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  BROTHER, domest. relat. He who is born from the same father and mother with 
  another, or from one of them only. 
       2. Brothers are of the whole blood, when they are born of the same 
  father and mother, and of the half blood, when they are the issue of one of 
  them only. 
       3. In the civil law, when they are the children of the same father and 
  mother, they are called brothers germain; when they descend from the same 
  father, but not the same mother, they are consanguine brothers; when they 
  are the issue of the same mother, but not the same father, they are uterine 
  brothers. A half brother, is one who is born of the same father or mother, 
  but not of both. One born of the same parents before they were married, a 
  left-sided brother; and a bastard born of the same father or mother, is 
  called a natural brother. Vide Blood; Half-blood; Line; and Merl. Repert. 
  mot Frere; Dict. de Jurisp. mot Frere; Code, 3, 28, 27 Nov. 84, praef; 
  Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.