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*bʰréh₂tēr1‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*frātēr1‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāter2‘brother’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternus3‘brotherly’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternitās2‘brotherhood’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraternité2‘brotherhood’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraternite2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fraternity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin frater
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English fraternity
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin fraternitas
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, Thomas Coryate, Italy: “Having now so amply declared unto thee most of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₂tērWiktionary, Latin frater‘brother’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*frātērWiktionary, Latin frater‘brother’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāterWiktionary, English fraternity‘brother’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternusWiktionary, Latin fraternitas‘brotherly’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrāternitāsWiktionary, English fraternity‘brotherhood’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fraternitéWiktionary, English fraternity‘brotherhood’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fraterniteWiktionary, English fraternity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fraternityWiktionary, English fraternity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fraternity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin frater, Latin fraternitas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr / fraternity

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