brother

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brother^¹

/ˈbɹʌðə/ UK
/ˈbɹʌðɚ/ Canada, US
[ˈbɹʌɾə]
/ˈbɹɐðə/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈbɹʊðə/ Northern England
/bɹʊˈðɜː/
/ˈbɹʊðəɹ/ Ireland
/ˈbɹʊdəɹ/
/ˈbɹʊdɐ/
/ˈbɹʌðəɹ/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
/ˈbɹʌvə(ɹ)/

Rhymes with -ʌðə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

PIE word

*bʰréh₂tēr

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr

Proto-Germanic *brōþēr

Proto-West Germanic *brōþer

Old English brōþor

Middle English brother

English brother

Inherited from Middle English brother, broþer, from Old English brōþor, brōðer, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (“brother”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (“brother”). Doublet of bhai, bru, frater, friar, pal, and vai.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots breeder, bridder, brither, broder, brother, bruther (“brother”), Yola brover, brower (“brother”), North Frisian brouder, bruler, Bröđer (“brother”), Saterland Frisian Brour, Brúur (“brother”), West Frisian broer (“brother”), Alemannic German briöder, bruder, brueder, bröder, Brüeder, Brüädär (“brother”), Bavarian pruadar, prueder, pruider (“brother”), Central Franconian Broder (“brother”), Cimbrian pruadar, pruudar (“brother”), Dutch broeder, broer (“brother”), German Bruder (“brother”), German Low German Broor (“brother”), Limburgish broor, Broër (“brother”), Luxembourgish Brudder (“brother; monk”), Mòcheno pruader (“brother”), Vilamovian brüder (“brother”), Yiddish ברודער (bruder, “brother”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish broder, bror (“brother”), Elfdalian bruoðer (“brother”), Faroese and Icelandic bróðir (“brother”), Crimean Gothic bruder (“brother”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐌰𐍂 (brōþar, “brother”); also Breton breur (“brother”), Cornish broder (“brother”), Irish bráthair (“brother”), Manx braar (“brother; friar, monk”), Scottish Gaelic bràthair (“brother”), Welsh brawd (“brother”), Latin frāter (“brother; sibling”), Ancient Greek βρά (brá, “brother”), φρᾱ́τηρ (phrā́tēr, “brother, citizen, clansman, kinsman”), Phrygian βρατερε (bratere, “brother”), Lydian 𐤡𐤭𐤠𐤱𐤭𐤳𐤦𐤳 (prafršiš, “brother”), Latgalian bruoļs (“brother”), Latvian brālis (“brother”), Lithuanian brólis (“brother”), Old Prussian brāti, brote (“brother”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian брат (brat, “brother”), Czech bratr (“brother”), Polish, Slovak, and Slovene brat (“brother”), Serbo-Croatian бра̏т, brȁt (“brother; buddy, mate”), Armenian ապեր (aper), ախպար (axpar), ախպեր (axper), եղբայր (eġbayr, “brother; buddy”), Baluchi برات (barát, “brother”), Central Kurdish and Southern Kurdish برا (bra, “brother”), Northern Kurdish bira (“as a brother”), Ossetian ӕрвад (ærvad), ӕрвадӕ (ærvadæ, “brother”), Pashto ورور (wror, “brother”), Persian برادر (barādar, birādar / barâdar), برار (birār / berâr), وردار (vardâr, “brother; comrade; dude”), Ashkun břa (“younger brother”), Kamkata-viri břo (“brother”), Tregami brā (“brother”), Waigali brā, břā (“brother”), Tocharian A pracar (“brother”), Tocharian B procer (“brother”), Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ, “brother; friend”).

noun brothers · brethren · brotha · brudda · brothah · brothuh

Son of the same parents as another person. It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and
A male having at least one parent in common with another person (see half-brother, stepbrother).
A male fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc. You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.
informal A form of address to a man. Brother, can you spare a dime?
A fellow black man. [Michael Jackson] went on television and said, “I don't have sex because of my religious beliefs”, and the public believed it. I know brothers was like “get the fuck out of here!”. And white people, “Michael's a special kinda guy!”
Somebody, usually male, connected by a common cause, situation, or affection. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.
Someone who is a peer, whether male or female. And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.
poetic Someone who is a kinsman or shares the same patriarch. The eighteenth century text, with its antislavery message and its Adamic figuration, calls implicily for the reconciliation of all peoples as "brothers" (not the reprehensible brothers of Joseph but the cocreated brothers of Adam).

verb brothers · brothering · brothered · brotha · brudda

transitive To treat as a brother. Seest thou not we are overreached, and that our proposed mode of communicating with our friends without has been disconcerted by this same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother?

interjection brotha · brudda · brothah · brothuh · bruvver · broth'r

Expressing exasperation. We're being forced to work overtime? Oh, brother!

Brother^²

noun Brothers

Title of respect for an adult male member of a religious or fraternal order. At the monastery, Brother Stephen supervises the kitchen.
Title of respect for an adult male member of a fraternal/sororal organization, or comrade in a movement, or even a stranger using fictive kin.
Similar: Br., Bro
A title used to personify or respectfully refer to concepts or animals. The Native American had a kinship with nature, even referring to Mother Earth and Brother Bear.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: blood brother, sister, buddy, chum, comrade, fellow, crony, sidekick, related, pal, related to, sibling, cousin, nephew, stepbrother, brother-in-law

Translations

Every language

noun male sibling

Español	hermano
한국어	형제 hyeongje, 형 hyeong, 형님 hyeongnim, 오빠 oppa, 남동생 namdongsaeng, 동생 dongsaeng
日本語	兄弟 kyōdai, 兄 ani, お兄さん oniisan, 兄ちゃん nīchan, 弟 otōto, ブラザー burazā
中文	哥哥 gēge, 弟弟 dìdi, 兄弟 xiōngdì
हिन्दी	भाई bhāī, भ्राता bhrātā, सहोदर sahodar, दादा dādā, भाऊ bhāū, वीर vīr
Kiswahili	ndugu, kaka
Português	irmão
Français	frère
Deutsch	Bruder
Italiano	fratello
Ελληνικά	αδελφός adelfós, αδερφός aderfós
Română	frate
Русский	брат brat, бра́тец brátec, брати́шка bratíška, брата́н bratán
Tiếng Việt	anh or anh trai, em trai, em, anh em
العربية	أَخ ʔaḵ, شَقِيق šaqīq
עברית	אָח akh

noun male having parents in common

Español	hermano
日本語	兄弟 kyōdai
हिन्दी	सहोदर sahodar, बंधु bandhu, भाई bhāī, भ्राता bhrātā
Português	irmão
Français	frère
Deutsch	Bruder
Italiano	fratello
Ελληνικά	αδελφός adelfós
Română	frate
Русский	брат brat
Tiếng Việt	anh em, huynh đệ
עברית	אח akh

noun male fellow member of a religious community

Español	hermano
日本語	修道士 shūdōshi, ブラザー burazā
中文	弟兄 dìxiōng
हिन्दी	सहधर्मी sahdharmī
Português	frade, irmão
Français	frère
Deutsch	Bruder
Italiano	fratello, confratello
Ελληνικά	αδελφός adelfós
Română	frate

noun peer

Español	hermano
Português	irmão
Français	pair, semblable
Italiano	fratello, pari
Ελληνικά	αδελφός adelfós
Română	frate

verb to treat as a brother

Français	fraterniser
Deutsch	verbrüdern
Ελληνικά	συναδελφώνομαι synadelfónomai
Română	înfrăți, fraterniza

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Cite this

MLA

"brother." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/brother. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

brother. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/brother

Chicago

"brother." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/brother.

BibTeX

@misc{brother_2026,
  title = {brother},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/brother},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}