brother

Definitions of Brother

1. (noun) A male sibling.
2. (noun) A male member of a group such as a fraternity or religion.

Examples of Brother

• Definition 1:
  • Twin brothers, James and Oliver Phelps (born 1986) portrayed Fred and George Weasley in the film adaption of the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling (born 1965).
    
• Definition 2:
  • monk

Brother Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: broth·er

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈbrəðər/
• British English – /ˈbrʌðə/

Usage Notes

• Plural: brothers
• An individual’s older brother is called a big brother and a younger brother is called a little brother, and sibling’s husband is a brother-in-law.
• An individual’s brother with only one parent in common is a half brother (half-brother) or step brother (step-brother).
• The female equivalent of brother is a sister.
• An individual’s parent’s brother is an uncle.
• Also called: male sibling
• Informally called: bro
• The term (adjective) fraternal means relating to brothers or (adjective) brotherly tendencies, and bothers share a (noun) brotherhood.

Related Video

Additional Information

• Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “brother” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• genealogy
• husband
• kinship
• mother
• parent
• spouse
• uncle
• wife

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Cite the Definition of Brother

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “brother.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

brother. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “brother.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“brother.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/>.