Etymograph

English

fraternity

Fraternity comes from Old French fraternité ‘brotherhood’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₂tēr‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*frātēr‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāter‘brother’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternus‘brotherly’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternitās‘brotherhood’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraternité‘brotherhood’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraternite
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fraternity

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₂tēr‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*frātēr‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāter‘brother’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternus‘brotherly’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternitās‘brotherhood’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraternité‘brotherhood’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraternite
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fraternity

Earliest quotation: 1611, Thomas Coryate, Italy: “Having now so amply declared unto thee most of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr ‘brother’

brother, bro, pal, brethren, bhai, 13 more

through Latin frāter ‘brother’

friar, fra, 7 more

Today it means

noun The quality of being brothers or brotherly; brotherhood.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr / fraternity

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