brother

 
Pronunciation: /ˈbrʌðə/

noun

  • 1a man or boy in relation to other sons and daughters of his parents: he recognized her from her strong resemblance to her brother
  • a male associate or fellow member of an organization: the time is coming, brothers, for us to act
  • (also brotha or brutha) North American informal a black man (often used as a term of address by other black people): there I was with one white boy and this other brother
  • a thing which resembles or is connected to another thing: the machine is almost identical to its larger brother
  • 2 (plural also brethren /ˈbrɛðrɪn/) Christian Church a (male) fellow Christian.
  • a member of a religious order of men: a Benedictine brother
  • a member of a fundamentalist Protestant denomination: the Plymouth Brethren

exclamation

chiefly North American
  • used to express annoyance or surprise: oh brother!

Phrases

be one's brother's keeper

be responsible for the behaviour of a relative, friend, or associate: we are, it seems, at last becoming a world in which each of us is our brother’s keeper

brothers in arms

soldiers fighting together on the same side.

Origin:

Old English brōthor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch broeder and German Bruder, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin frater