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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary fra·ter·ni·ty (plural -ties) DATE 14th century 1. a group of people associated or formally organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure: as a. a fraternal order b. guild 1 c. a men's student organization formed chiefly for social purposes having secret rites and a name consisting of Greek letters d. a student organization for scholastic, professional, or extracurricular activities a debating fraternity 2. the quality or state of being brothers : brotherliness 3. persons of the same class, profession, character, or tastes the racetrack fraternity English Etymology fraternity early 14c., "body of men associated by common interest," from O.Fr . fraternité, from L. fraternitatem (nom. fraternitas), from fraternus "brotherly," from frater "brother," from PIE *bhrater (see brother). College Greek-letter organization sense is from 1777, first in reference to Phi Beta Kappa; shortened form frat first recorded 1895. Fraternize is attested from 1610s, "to sympathize as brothers;" sense of "cultivate friendship with enemy troops" is from 1897; used oddly by World War II armed forces to mean "have sex with women from enemy countries." Fraternal is early 15c., from M.L. fraternalis, from L. fraternus.http://O.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 fraternity fra·ter·nity / frE5tE:nEti; NAmE -5tE:rn- / noun(pl. -ies) 1. [C + sing. / pl. v.] a group of people sharing the same profession, interests or beliefs (有相同职业、爱好或信仰的)群体,同仁；同好: members of the medical / banking / racing, etc. fraternity 医务界、银行界、赛马圈等同仁 2. (also NAmE informal frat) [C] a club for a group of male students at an American college or university (美国男大学生的)联谊会, 兄弟会 ⇨ compare sorority 3. [U] (formal) a feeling of friendship and support that exists between the members of a group (团体内的)情谊,兄弟般友谊,博爱: the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity 自由、平等和博爱的理想 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition n. Function: noun Synonyms: ASSOCIATION 2, brotherhood, club, fellowship, guild, league, order, society, sodality, unionWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: greek-letter fraternity fra·ter·ni·ty \frəˈtərnəd.ē, -ˈtə̄n-, -ətē, -i\ noun (-es) Etymology: Middle English fraternite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French fraternite, from Latin fraternitat-, fraternitas, from fraternus + -itat-, -itas -ity 1. : a group of people associated or formally organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure: as a. : a religious or ecclesiastical brotherhood b. : a usually organized group of men of the same class, occupation, interest, or pursuit : company , guild : fraternal order c. : a national or local men's student organization formed chiefly for social purposes having secret rites and a name consisting of usually three Greek letters; also : an organization of alumni who were members of such an organization d. : a student organization for scholastic, professional, or extracurricular activities; especially : a national honorary organization including students and alumni < a honorary fraternity > < a debating fraternity > 2. a. : the quality or state of being a brother or being brothers : the relationship of a brother or of brothers b. : the quality or state of being brotherly or very friendly : brotherliness c. : a brotherly commonness (as of occupation) < men with a fraternity of interests > 3. : men of the same class, profession, occupation, character, or tastes < the legal fraternity > < the racetrack fraternity > < the despised fraternity of armchair historians — T.S.Brown > 4. a. : the entire progeny of a single mating b. : a group of siblings |
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