| 释义 |
▪ I. brother, n.|ˈbrʌðə(r)|
Pl. brothers, brethren |ˈbrɛðrɪn|. Forms: 1 bróðor, -ur, -er, 2–5 broþer, 3– brother (passim -err, -ir, -ere, -re, -yr, broither), 4–6 broder, -ir, -yr, 6 bruder; mod.Sc. brither. Plural: see below.
[A Common Teut., and Common Aryan word: OE. bróðor = OFris. bróther, bróder, OS. brôthar (MDu. and Du. broeder, MLG. and mod.LG. broder), OHG. bruodar (MHG. bruoder, Ger. bruder), ON. bróðir (Sw., Da. broder), Goth. brôþar:—OTeut. *brôþar:—OAryan *ˈbhrāter, -tor, -tr, whence also Skr. bhrātr, Gr. ϕρᾱτηρ, L. frāter, OSlav. brātŭ, OCelt. *brāter (Ir. and Gael. brathair, Welsh brawd (from *brawdr), Breton breur (formerly breuzr).
As in some other words in OE. long ō, the mod. form has undergone more than the usual vowel change, which would have left it |ˈbruːðər|. In ME., esp. in north. dial. and Sc., the th was often written d, perhaps after fader, moder. The OE. dat. sing. was bréðer; the gen. was the same as the nom. and remained so in Scotch down to 1600, as in the connexion broder son (nephew), broder bairn, broder wyfe, broder dochter, which have often been misunderstood by modern readers. The plural has had a great variety of forms: viz. in OE. bróðor, -ur, -er (like the sing.), and bróðru, -ro, later -ra, also once broeþre (in Anglian, in Rushworth Gloss); and with collective sense, ᵹebróðer, and ᵹebróðru, -ro, -ra. In early ME. the Lambeth Homilies have broþre, breþre, and rarely breþren; the Trin. Coll. Hom. broþren and breþren; Ormin and Gen. & Ex. have always breþre, breþere; of Layamon the first text has a variety of forms, most frequently broþ(e)ren, frequently breþ(e)ren, rarely broþ(e)re, (never breþre or breþer), once broþerne, once broþeres; the second text has always broþeres, broþers. The Jesus MS. poems in O.E. Misc. have usually broþren, which is the regular form in Ayenbite; broth(e)ren occurs in many writers down nearly to 1600. In northern Eng., from the earliest distinctive specimens, the regular plural form was breþer, brether; often used also by non-northern writers. The standard English plural, down to 1600, was breþ(e)ren, brethren. Brothers, after its early appearance in Layamon, is not quoted again till the end of the 16th c., when it is used by Shakespeare indiscriminately with brethren. In the 17th c. brothers became the ordinary form in the literal sense; brethren being retained in reference to spiritual, ecclesiastical, or professional relationship.
The original Teut. pl. nom. corresponding to Aryan *ˈbhrātres, would be *brôþriz, whence regularly ON. brœðr. The corresponding OE. *bróeðer, *bréðer is unexpectedly wanting: but the Mercian bróeþre, and its ME. descendant brethre (see β) may possibly be a remnant of it. The northern brether (see γ) may actually have come down from *bróeðer, though it may also merely be brethre with the final e dropped. The OE. -u, -o (-a) forms are difficult to explain: it has been suggested that they might be originally duals (like sculdru from sculdor masc.). They were regularly represented by ME. brothre (see α). Brothren, brethren exemplify the usual passage of ns. having vowel plurals in southern early ME. into the -en type. The early occurrence of the modern brothers, as well as its subsequent non-appearance till the end of the 16th c., is notable and requires further investigation. In the genitive pl. breðere occurs in Gen. and Ex.; breþern -e in St. Brandan; breþer, breþers was northern; brethren's standard Eng., now, in ordinary use, brothers'.]
A. Illustrations of the plural forms.
† (α) plural brother, brothre: OE. broðor, broðru, -ro, -ra; ME. 2–3 broþre, -ere, 4 brothere, 4–5 -ire.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 2033 (Gr.) Broðor þry. c1000Ags. Ps. cxxi[i]. 8 For mine broðru. c1000Ags. Gosp. John vii. 3 His broðra [Lindisf. & Rushw., broðro; Hatton G. hys broðre]. Ibid. John vii. 10 His ᵹebroðru [Hatton G. broðre]. Ibid. Matt. xii. 47 Þin modur & þine ᵹebroðra [Hatton G. ᵹebroðre; Lindisf. broðra, v. 48 broðro; Rushw. broþer]. c1175Lamb. Hom. 5 Nu leoue broðre! Ibid. Leoue broðre and sustre! c1205Lay. 16120 Comen þa broðere. c1275Passion 626 in O.E. Misc. 55 Ȝe beoþ alle broþre [rime ych to oþre]. a1400Sayn John xix. in Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 94 His hyne holly and he..Become þare thi brothire [rime ilk one to oþer].
† (β) plural brethre: OE. bróeþre, 2–3 breðre, breþere, 3 briðere. Obs.
c975Rushw. Gl., Matt. i. 11 Broeþre his. c1175Lamb. Hom. 9, 45 Leofe breðre. c1200Ormin 6366 Wiþþ hise breþre. Ibid. 8269 Arrchelawess breþre þreo. a1240Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 275 Borne breðre hauen me forwurpen. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1911 If he saȝ hise breðere misfaren. Ibid. 2213 Ðo breðere (gen. pl.) seckes. Ibid. 2271 Al ðo briðere fellen.
(γ) brether: (3–4 -ir, -yr, breither, 4 briþer, 5 brythir, 4–6 breder, -ir, -ur, -yr.) Still in north. Eng. and Sc.
a1300Cursor M. 1210 His breþer als him-self he loued. c1340Ibid. 23873 (Edinb.) Al er we briþer. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 39 Alle þo rich breþer. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 93 Twa brethir. c1400Destr. Troy 9589 His dere bredur two. Ibid. 13167 Bothe were þai brether. 1432–50tr. Higden (1865) I. 125 The breder of Ioseph. Ibid. 211 Rome was made of ij. breþer, Remus and Romulus. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. 1 His two brythir. 1513–75Diurn. Occurrents (1833) 84 And vtheris his breder. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 33 The rest of the brether or sisters. 1609Bible (Douay) Prov. vi. 19 Our Lord hateth..him that among brether soweth discordes. 1875Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) Brether, brothers.
† (δ) brothren: 3–4 broþren, -eren (4 brotheryn(e, 5 broderen, -yrn, 5–6 brothern, -e, 6 brootherne, Sc. (casually) brotherand). Obs.
a1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 173 Of two broðren. c1205Lay. 2759 His broðren hine cleopeden. Ibid. 2101 Þa þreo broðeren [c 1275 broþers; so 5536, 6809, 10461, 11176]. Ibid. 3880 Beine iweren ibroðeren [c 1275 broþers; so 10446, 12255]. 1340Ayenb. 101 We gadereþ alle oure broþren. Ibid. 149 Uor oure broþren. c1275O.E. Misc. 53 Go to myne broþren. c1440Generydes 2656 We are broderen. 1478W. Paston Lett. 816 III. 226 All my brodyrn and systyrs. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 401/2 His brothern wepte. 1533Bellenden Livy i. (1822) 44 To haif supportit his brotherand. 1536Remed. Sedition 24 b, Ye brotherne and systerne? fathers and mothers? 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 50 These owre brootherne, owre flesshe & owre bones. 1567Drant Horace's Epist. ii. ii. H vj, Two brotherne.
(ε) brethren: 2–4 breþren, -eren, 3– brethren, (3–6 bretheren(e, 3–5 -in, 4 brithirn, -ern, -eroun, 4–5 -eren, 4–7 brethern, 5– 6 brederne, -urne).
c1175Lamb. Hom. 11 Leoue breðren. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 175 Ure helende..segh þos tweie brodren and þese breðren weren on þe se. c1205Lay. 2137 Þo þa þre breðeren. Ibid. 4292 Þas breðren [c 1275 þeos broþers]. 1297R. Glouc. 478 The bretheren hulde al so aȝen hor fader. c1300St. Brandan 558 Mid oure Loverdes pans and mid oure Bretherne i-boȝt. c1350Will. Palerne 5304 Þe bold breþeren. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 284 Among here briþeren. Ibid. 367 Þe possessyon of her breþern. a1400Morte Arth. 4144 My faire bretherene. c1450Lonelich Grail lv. 52 Alle his bretheren. Ibid. 59 His bretherin alle. c1450Merlin iii. 4 The two brethern. 1489Caxton Faytes of A. iv. vii. 247 Two bretherne accused of thefte. 1535Coverdale Matt. i. 2 Iacob begat Iudas & his brethren. 1584D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 68 Howel with his Bretherene. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. iv. i. (1676) 134 Two melancholy brethren. 1705Stanhope Paraphr. I. 49 Their Brethrens honest though mistaken Zeal. 1843Macaulay Lays, Lake Regillus ii, Unto the Great Twin Brethren We keep this solemn feast.
(ζ) brothers: 3 broþeres, broþres, broþers.
c1205Lay. 9153 Alle his broðeres [c 1275 broþers] mid him. c1275Ibid. 12255 Broþeres hii were [c 1205 ibroðeren]. Ibid. 2101 Þe þreo broþers [c 1205 broðeren] alle to gadere comen. [So everywhere in the later text.] 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 30 Ah Lucius for thy brothers let me plead. 1597― 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 23 Thou hast a better place in his Affection, Then all thy Brothers. c1630Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 25 Being both younger Brothers. 1713Pope Windsor For. 337 Around his throne the sea-born brothers stood. 1843Macaulay Lays, Horatius xxxii, The Romans were like brothers In the brave days of old.
B. Signification:
I. as simple n.
1. The word applied to a male being to express his relationship to others (male or female) as the child of the same parent or parents.
In the singular usually defined by a possessive word expressed or implied as ‘my brother’, ‘the king's youngest brother’, ‘the brother of your friend’, ‘(our) Brother Jonathan’, ‘come, (my) brother!’; in the plural, this may be absent, if the relationship is between the individuals themselves, as in ‘they are brothers (i.e. to each other)’.
a. properly. The son of the same parents. But often extended to include one who has either parent in common with another (more strictly called half-brother, or brother of the half blood); also to a brother-in-law. See brother-uterine (in 9 d), also brother-german, good-brother. (Also applicable to animals.)
O.E. Chron. an. 656 Min broðer is faren of þisse liue. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 13 Seᵹe minum breðer þæt he dæle uncer æhta wið me. Ibid. Matt. x. 21 Soðlice broður sylð hys broður to deaðe. c1160Hatton Gosp. ibid., Se broðer sylleð his broðer. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 147 Þo two sustres wepen for here broðres deað. a1300Cursor M. 1214 Caym his aun broder slogh. 1426Audelay Poems 15 His borne broder. c1440Promp. Parv. 54 Brodyr by the modyr syde onely..germanus. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. 1 He create and made dukes his two brythir. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 154 Fie brother, how the world is chang'd with you. 1611Bible Prov. xviii. 24 A friend that sticketh closer then a brother. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 456 His Brothers Offering found From Heav'n acceptance. 1842Tennyson Dora 15 She is my brother's daughter. 1850― In Mem. xxxi. 5 Where wert thou, brother, those four days? 1859― Elaine 40 Here two brothers..had met And fought.
b. Including more distant kin: A kinsman, as uncle, nephew, cousin. (Chiefly a Hebraism of the Bible.)
1382Wyclif Gen. xiv. 14 Loth his brother takun. Ibid. xxix. 12 He shewide to hir that he was the brother of hir fader. 1611Bible Gen. xiii. 8 And Abram said vnto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, betweene mee and thee..for wee bee brethren. Ibid. xxix. 12 Jacob told Rachel, that hee was her fathers brother. Ibid. 15.
c. Said affectionately of one regarded or treated as a brother; one who fills the place of a brother.
1795Burns ‘A man's a man’ v, Man to man, the world o'er, Shall brothers be for a' that. 1850Tennyson In Mem. ix, My friend, the brother of my love, My Arthur!
d. (i) As a familiar mode of address to a man, esp. one whose name is not known (see also quot. 1973) (U.S.); (ii) int., a mild exclamation of annoyance, surprise, etc. (chiefly U.S.).
1912Dialect Notes III. 572 Say, brother, can you tell me how far it is to Veedersburg? 1924Cosmopolitan Dec. 68/2 ‘Brother, you're sitting pretty!’ sighs the money-mad Hazel, enviously. 1943N.Y. Times 9 May ii. 5 Why, brother, all the cats cut a mean rug to that music. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 20 Aug. 7 Never did learn to spell it. But, brother, I drank it. 1957B. & C. Evans Dict. Contemp. Amer. Usage 73/1 The singular is used a great deal in America as a semi-facetious form of address (You said it, brother!), as an introduction to an informal supplication (Brother, can you spare a dime?) and, often, just as an exclamation (Brother! You should have seen that guy!). 1969Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 9 Nov. 6/3 Then when you think you've got used to mountain roads you hit one like the Seton–Darcy road. Oh Brother! 1973To Our Returned Prisoners of War (U.S. Office of Secretary of Defense) 2 Brother, term mostly used by a Black man or woman to identify a Black male, and as a term of address. Also being used by Chicanos and American Indians. 1985Toronto Sun 10 Oct. 42/1 And brother, when Elsie decides to ‘bake’ her..Cheese Cake it's a doozy of a winner.
2. A fellow-clansman, fellow-citizen, fellow-countryman (one who claims the same patria or father-land); in widest sense (under influence of Christianity), fellow-man, fellow-creature.
a1000Ags. Ps. cxxi[i]. 8 For mine broðru ic bidde nu. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 219 For þi beð alle man ibroþren and isustren. a1300Cursor M. 854 His grace it was..Þat he wald bicom our broþer. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 151 Theyr neyghbours..I meane theyr systerne and bretherne. 1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 67 Adams sonnes are my brethren. 1611Bible Acts xiii. 26 Men and brethren, children of the stocke of Abraham. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 297 So Man..Shall satisfie for Man, be judg'd and die..and rising with him raise His Brethren. 1714J. Fortescue-Aland Fortescue's Abs. & Lim. Mon. 30 The Lombards..Brothers and Kinsmen of the Saxons. 1789Burns Capt. Grose, Land o' Cakes and brither Scots. 1840Longfellow Ps. of Life viii, Footprints, that..A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. a1860Mackay Brotherhood of Nations vi, Are ye not brothers?.. Is [God] not Father of all climes and lands? 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 294 An ungrateful infection, weakening and corrupting the future of his brothers.
b. a man and a brother: a phrase taken from the motto on the seal of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ approved by a Committee of the Society on 16 Oct. 1787.
(The design, a kneeling slave in chains, uttering the words, was shortly after produced as a cameo, black on white, by Wedgwood, and became extremely popular as a personal ornament. The seal is in regular use by the philanthropic society, which still carries on the war against slavery and the slave trade.)
1791E. Darwin Bot. Gard. 101 [an engraving of the device and motto]. 1808Clarkson Hist. Abolition I. 450; II. 191. 1809 Montgomery Songs Abolition Slavery i. ii, The Negro wakes to liberty..Read the great charter on his brow, I am a man, a brother now.
Hence (contemptuously), man-and-brotherism, the anti-slavery movement.
1865Pall Mall G. 27 Mar. 3/1 Is this the principle of abolition? Are these the sentiments of man and brotherism?
3. A fellow-member of a Christian society, or of the Christian Church as a whole; a fellow-christian; a co-religionist generally. (Pl. brethren.)
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 8 An ys eower Lareow: ᵹe synt ealle ᵹebroðru [Hatton G. ᵹebroðre; Lindisf. broðro]. c1175Lamb. Hom. 5 Leoue broðre and sustre ȝe hi hered. Ibid. 125 Alle we beoð ibroðran. c1200Ormin Ded. 3 Nu, broþerr Wallterr..broþerr min i Crisstenndom.. Icc hafe don swa summ þu badd. 1340Ayenb. 101 We gadereþ alle oure broþren mid ous of adopcion. c1449Pecock Repr. i. xii. 63 Thi Christen britheren and sistren. 1521Fisher Wks. 329 In the epistoles of oure ryght dere broder Paule. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer, Morn. Pr., Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness. Ibid. Burial Service, The soul of our dear brother here departed. 1780Cowper Night. & Glow-w. 29 Hence jarring sectaries may learn..That brother should not war with brother. 1857Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 20 We expect a man in a black gown, supposed to be telling us truth, to address us as brethren. 1871Morley Voltaire (1886) 176 The Protestants..found warm hospitality among their northern brethren.
b. the Brethren: in N.T. the members of the early Christian churches; hence, sometimes adopted by (or applied ironically to) members of various Christian associations, claiming to adhere to New Testament principles; e.g. the Puritan party in the Church of England under Queen Elizabeth. Also in the adopted title or common appellation of some modern sects who reject ‘orders’ in the church, e.g. ‘Brethren’, ‘Brethren in Christ’, ‘Christian Brethren’, ‘Plymouth Brethren’, etc. (See the Registrar-General's Reports.)
1382Wyclif Acts xviii. 18 Paul..seide fare wel to britheren. 1534Tindale ibid. Paul..toke his leave of the brethren. 1655Fuller Ch. History ix. 139 Heartned hereat the Brethren, who hitherto had no particular platforme of discipline amongst themselves..began in a solemne Councell..to conclude, on a certain forme, as followeth. 1886Whitaker's Almanac 195/2 The Brethren, or Plymouth Brethren, have 23 places of worship in London.
c. Also in names of historical sects: e.g. Brethren of Alexius: a sect of the 14th c., = Cellites. B. of the Free Spirit: a sect which abounded in Western Europe in the 13th c., alleged to have derived its name from Rom. viii. 2–14.
1860A. Edersheim tr. Kurtz's Ch. Hist. I. §142. 457 The Brethren of the Common Life were an association of pious clergymen founded by Gerhard Groot at Deventer in the Netherlands (1384). Ibid. §147. 470 It is more than probable that Eccart stood in some relation to the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit.
4. A fellow-member of a guild, corporation, or order; hence, by extension, one of the same profession, trade, society, or order. (Pl. brethren.)
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 246 Dismas my broþer bi-souȝte þe of grace. 1389Gild of Garlekhith in E.E. Gilds (1870) 3 To noriche more loue bytwene þe bretheren & sustren of þe bretherhede. c1466Gild of Tailors, Exeter ibid. 315 Yf any Brother of the fforsayd ffraternyte and crafte dysspysse anoder. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 142 Gif ane man, quha is nocht ane brother of this Gilde..leaues in legacie, any part of his gudes to this Gild: we receave him as ane of our brether. 1723Steele Consc. Lovers ii. i, What shall I do for a Brother in the Case? 1805Med. & Phys. Jrnl. XIV. 231 To furnish their professional brethren of the circle with a supply of recent vaccine fluid. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. I. 559 Admitted a brother of the Stationers' Company. 1845D. Jerrold Curtain Lect. xx. 49 When you were once made a ‘brother’ [Masonic] as you call yourself. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 441 One physician..assured the queen that his brethren would kill the king among them.
b. The official title of certain members of livery companies, and formerly of municipal corporations.
c. A member of Trinity House.
1602Return fr. Parnass. (pt. 2) iv. v. (Arb.) 60 Two states of an incorporation, the one of the Aldermen, the other of the Brethren. 1696Lond. Gaz. No. 3176/3 The Master, Wardens, Assistants and Elder Brethren of the Society of the Trinity-House at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1704Ibid. No. 4066/3 The Mayor..Aldermen, Brethren, and Capital Burgesses, of Your Majesty's Ancient Borough of Derby. 1766Entick London IV. 330 This corporation [Trinity Ho.] is governed by a master, 4 wardens, 8 assistants, and 18 elder brethren. The inferior members..are called younger brethren; into which number any master or mate, skilled in navigation, may be admitted. 1883Ld. Sudeley in Ho. Comm. 19 July, The Elder Brethren of the Trinity House.
d. More vaguely: One in the same case or position; a comrade, fellow, companion, associate. (Pl. more commonly brothers.)
a1300Cursor M. 13086 Breþer mi dere and freinde Nu yee sal mine erand wend. 1423Jas. I. Kingis Q. clxxxiv, Beseching vnto fair venus abufe, For all my brethir..that seruandis ar to lufe. c1430Syr Gener. 4499 Sir, brethre we ar, both ye and I. 1611Bible Job xxx. 29, I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owles. ― Prov. xviii. 9 Hee also that is slouthful in his worke, is brother to him that is a great waster. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. ii. ii, I will draw my sword. Oh! for a brother! 1785Burns Ep. W. Simpson xvii, Fareweel ‘my rhyme-composing brother’! 1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 663 A legioned band of linked brothers.
e. In numerous phrases indicating the kind of fellowship, as sworn brother, brother at, in (of obs.) arms, brother of the angle (= fellow-angler), brother of the blade, gusset, long robe, quill, etc.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 302, I tolde the myn aduenture As to my cosyn, and my brother sworn. 1485Caxton Paris & V. 3 Two brethern of armes. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 7, I am sworn brother to a leash of Drawers. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. v. ii, Once more brothers in arms. 1653Walton Angler i. 5, I am a Brother of the Angle. 1668R. L'Estrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 105 To pass for Hectors; Sons of Priam; Brothers of the Blade. 1680Observ. ‘Curse Ye Meroz’ 7 This Aphorism is but borrowed from another Brother of the Quill. 1814Southey Roderick iv, My first sworn brother in the appointed rule. 1828Scott F.M. Perth II. 212 That doughty burgher is Henry's brother-at-arms. 1828–41Tytler Hist. Scot. I. (1864) 144 Randolph, his friend and brother-in-arms. 1840Fraser's Mag. XXI. 315 The two knights defend each other, as sworn brethren-at-arms. 1878Morley Diderot II. 122 A chivalrous defender of poorer brethren in art.
5. esp. A fellow-member of a religious order (cf. frater, frère, friar).
Hence frequently in titles, as Brethren of the Sack, B. of the Holy Trinity: two fraternities of monks in the 13th c. B. of the Community, and B. of the Observation: laxer and stricter sects of the Franciscans. Little Brethren of the Poor: the Wyclifite preachers. Brothers of Obedience, B. of Charity, etc.: see quots.
c1500Cocke Lorell's B. (1843) 7 The pope..hath graunted in his byll, That euery brother may do what he wyll. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburgh (1848) 87 This kynge gaue a place..To buylde a monastery, to relygyous brethur. 1536Act 27 Hen. VIII, xlii. §2 in Oxf. & Camb. Enactm. 14 Scolers, Dimies, Brotherne, Chapleynes. 1552Lyndesay Monarche 5850 Ȝe Brether of Religioun, In tyme leif ȝour abusioun. 1691Southerne Sir Ant. Love i. i, A broken Brother of Bethlehem, with all his frippery about him. 1706tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 16th C. II. iv. xi. 450 The Brothers of Charity were instituted by St. John de Dieu. 1788Picturesque Tour thro' Europe 19 The Brothers of Obedience..without being obliged to go to Malta, like the rest, make the same vows. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 61 The chief representative of the Jesuits at Whitehall was an English brother of the Order.
6. Used by sovereigns and princes to each other.
1534K. Jas. V. to Hen. VIII, 5 June in Nat. MSS. ii. xxviii, Derrest and best belouit brother and oncle..Ȝour lowynge hartly brothere and nepho James Rex. 1535K. Hen. VIII. ibid. ii. xxix, To be frank and playn with his saide goode Brother [of France], his Majestie woll in noo wise, directly or indirectly confesse the Bisshop of Rome to haue any Jurisdiction in princes. 1553Q. Mary ibid. iii. iv, Our good brothere the ffrenche king. 1711Steele Spect. No. 64 ⁋1 Princes and Sovereigns..are stiled Brothers to each other. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 199 Lewis..was as licentious..as his brother of England.
7. fig. Said of things.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 141 Feire speche þat is feiþles is falsnes broþer. 1799Wordsw. Two April Mornings vii, That April morn, Of this the very brother. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xxiv. (1865) 188 The art of roasting or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother). 1830Tennyson Isabel iii, A clear stream flowing with a muddy one, Till in its onward current it absorbs..The vexed eddies of its wayward brother.
†b. B. of the Rose: the five leaves of the calyx.
1611Cotgr. Le gobelet d'vne Rose, The fiue-leaued Cap or huske thereof; called, by some, the fiue brothers of the Rose. 1626Bacon Sylva §590 We see also, that the Sockets, and Supporters of Flowers, are Figured; as in the five Brethren of the Rose.
II. attrib. and in Comb.
8. attrib. Placed before other substantives, in the same way as fellow-. brother-man: a man recognized as a brother, a ‘man and brother’.
Often united by a hyphen, esp. in the singular, so as to make clearer the attributive relation of brother to the second word (contrast brother-officer with brother John); but in the plural this is sufficiently shown by the inflexion of the second word and non-inflexion of brother. Formerly brother was also made plural.
1503Act 19 Hen. VII, xvii, The Mayor..with his Brethren Aldermen. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 122 Your Brother Kings and Monarchs of the Earth. 1603― Meas. for M. iii. ii. 219 My brother-Iustice haue I found so seuere. 1603Dekker, etc. Patient Grissil (1841) 18 Many of his brother knights. 1613Voy. Guiana in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 184 My brother-captain, Michael Harcourt. 1670Walton Lives iii. 216 His Brethren Ministers of the Low Countries. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxvii. (1695) 186 To punish one Twin for what his Brother-Twin did. 1725Pope Odyss. xi. 300 Two brother-heroes shall from thee be born. 1768Boswell Corsica iii. (ed. 2) 213 Composed in praise of his brother-commander. 1820Keats Hyperion ii. 160 Tell me, all ye brethren Gods, How we can war. 1837Disraeli Venetia i. xv. (1858) I. 100 An esteemed neighbour and brother magistrate. 1839Carlyle Chartism iv. 128 These wretched brother-men. 1861Jrnl. Sacred Lit. 95 To recognize him as one who is our brother-man. 1871Morley Crit. Misc. Ser. i. (1878) 220 Divorced..from his brother men.
b. of things.
a1822Shelley Sc. fr. Faust, Prol. Heaven, The sun sounds..In the song of emulation of his brother-spheres. 1873Black Pr. Thule ii. 32 Suainabhal and his brother mountains. 1874Boutell Arms & A. ii. 17 The substitution..of iron, in the stead of its elder brother-metal, bronze.
c. Hence, possible parasynthetic derivatives, as brother-ˈmanhood.
1864Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. 457 A cheery brother-manhood.
9. Comb.
a. The old uninflected genitive = ‘brother's’, as in broder bairn, brother daughter, brother son, brother wife, was sometimes in later usage taken as = ‘a brother's, brotherly’, as in brother deed, brother love.
b. objective and obj. gen., as brother-hater, brother-slayer, brother-slaughter, brother-worship.
c. instrumental, as brother-forsaken, etc.
a.a1300Cursor M. 3750 Fader, þis was na broþer dede. 1483Cath. Angl. 45 A Broder doghter, fratria. A Broder son, fratruus. A Broder wyfe, fratrissa. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 173 With a true heart, And Brother-loue.
b.1483Cath. Angl. 45 A Broder-slaer, fratricida. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. i. (1634) 510 Did brother-slaughter seeme to the Patriarkes a lawfull thing? 1817Coleridge Lay Serm. 387 Of many and various sorts are the brother-haters. 1864Chamb. Jrnl. 31 Dec. 838 Brother-worship is natural to sisters—when young.
d. brother-consanguinean (see quot.); brother-house, the home of a brotherhood; † brother-law = brother-in-law; brother-uterine, one born of the same mother, but not of the same father. Also brother-german, brotherwort.
1880Muirhead Gaius iii. §10 Brothers born of the same father, often called *brothers-consanguinean, are each other's agnates.
1883Contemp. Rev. Oct. 491 Their *brother-houses and schools..in most of the chief cities of the Netherlands.
1677Hobbes Homer 195 Your *brother-law Alcathous is kill'd. Ibid. 383 Hector, said she, Whom best I lov'd of all my brother-laws.
▸ slang (orig. U.S.). Chiefly in African-American use: a (fellow) black man. Also in extended use: a fellow non-white man (used esp. as an expression of solidarity). Cf. sister n. 2a.
1910T. A. Dorgan in N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 3 Feb. 12/3 Those meerschaum-colored brothers in the South will be wearing diamond rings and plug hats. 1922Negro in Chicago (Chicago Comm. Race Relations) ix. 563 The poor proprietor of the place, if he or she is one of the ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’, is almost helpless. 1965Los Angeles Times 14 Aug. 1/3 Light-skinned Negroes such as myself were targets of rocks and bottles until someone standing nearby would shout..‘He's a brother—lay off’. 1993Face Sept. 69/1 They saw the brothers at the party shouting ‘What's up nigga?’ to one another. 1995Represent Apr.–May 29/1 We had a studio that we painted in Upper Manhattan and my Latin brothers who were down with the studio they used to hang out at clubs like the Constellation.
▪ II. ˈbrother, v.
Also 6 Sc. bruder.
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To make a brother of; to admit to brotherhood; also, to treat or address as brother.
1573Sege Edinb. Castel in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 289 Thay ar bowit and bruderit in our band. 1584Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 7 Howe can you brother vs thus in euerie line, and deale so vnbrotherlie with vs in euerie sentence? 1706Farquhar Recruit. Officer i. i, No coaxing, no brothering me 'faith. 1820Scott Ivanhoe II. iv. 62 This same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother. c1825Beddoes Sec. Brother ii. ii, Marcello is my brother, I am his, If coming of one mother brother us.
2. To be a brother to. to brother it: to act or behave as a brother.
c1600Chapman Iliad xiii. 692 She that brought thee forth not utterly left me Without some portion of thy spirit to make me brother thee. a1648Ld. Herbert Life (1826) 327 There remains now but you and I to brother it.
Hence ˈbrothering vbl. n. rare.
1818Southey Lett. (1856) III. 97 By..such brothering and sistering he kept up his influence among his people.
▪ III. brother
obs. form of broider v. |