Definitions of Brother
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).
- 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:
Brother Pronunciation
Syllabification: broth·er
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /brUHTH-uhr/
- British English – /brUHTH-uh/
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
Cite the Definition of Brother
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “brother.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved November 28, 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 November 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“brother.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 28 Nov. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/brother/>.