fraternity

[ fruh-tur-ni-tee ]

noun

, plural fra·ter·ni·ties.

1. a local or national organization of male students, primarily for social purposes, usually with secret initiation and rites and a name composed of two or three Greek letters.
2. a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood.
3. any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc.:

   the medical fraternity.

4. an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes; sodality.
5. the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood:

   liberty, equality, and fraternity.

6. the relation of a brother or between brothers.

fraternity

/ frəˈtɜːnɪtɪ /

noun

1. a body of people united in interests, aims, etc Gender-neutral formcommunity

   the teaching fraternity

2. brotherhood
3. a secret society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club

Other Words From

• inter·fra·terni·ty adjective
• nonfra·terni·ty noun plural nonfraternities

Word History and Origins

Origin of fraternity¹

1300–50; Middle English fraternite < Latin frāternitās. See fraternal, -ity

Example Sentences

He met his wife, Mary Lou, in 1956, brunette and pretty, wearing bobby socks at a fraternity mixer at Michigan State.

From Salon

Increased awareness has to come from the medical fraternity, says Dr Satwik, adding that there need to be as many talks on menopause or perimenopause as there are on fertility and adolescent health.

From BBC

Much of this was led by sorority and fraternity members of the Divine Nine, and to call the Divine Nine “organized” is an understatement.

From Slate

Many attendees wore their sorority or fraternity colors — a celebration of a storied strand of Black culture in America.

From Los Angeles Times

The group is also renting party buses to take fraternity members, sorority members, and Black and Latino student groups to the polls together.

From Slate

Related Words

• camaraderie
• guild
• sorority