brother

See also: Brother and broþer

Contents

English

Alternative forms

• brotha (Jamaican English, AAVE)
• brothah
• brothuh

Etymology

From Middle English brother, from Old English brōþor, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr (compare North Frisian Bröðer, West Frisian broer, Dutch broeder, German Bruder, Danish broder, Norwegian bror), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr (compare Irish bráthair, Welsh brawd, Latin frāter, Ancient Greek φράτηρ (phrátēr), Tocharian A pracar, Tocharian B procer, Russian брат (brat), Lithuanian brolis, Persian برادر‎ (barādar), Sanskrit भ्रातृ (bhrātṛ)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: brŭth'ər, IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌðɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌðə(r)

Noun

brother (plural brothers or brethren)

1. Son of the same parents as another person.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

2. A male having at least one parent in common with another (see half-brother, stepbrother).
3. A male fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc.
   • The Bible, Deuteronomy 23:19 (NKJV)

     You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.

   Thank you, brother.

   I would like to thank the brother who just spoke.

4. (African American Vernacular) A black male.
   • 2013, Gwyneth Bolton, Ready for Love

     But damn if they knew when to just leave a brother alone and let him sulk in silence.

5. Somebody, usually male, connected by a common cause or situation.
   • 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.

     The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

6. Someone who is a peer, whether male or female.
   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Animal Farm: A Fairy Story, London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers.

Usage notes

The plural “brethren” is not used for biological brothers in contemporary English (although it was in older usage). It is, however, still very common when meaning “members of a religious order”. It is also sometimes used in other figurative senses, e.g. “adherents of the same religion”, “countrymen”, and the like.

Coordinate terms

• (with regards to gender): sister

Hypernyms

• (son of common parents): sibling

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun "brother"

• big brother/Big Brother
• blood brother
• bro
• brother german
• brother-in-arms
• brother-in-law
• Brother Jonathan
• brothered
• brotherhood
• brotherless
• brotherlike
• brotherly
• bruv
• bruvver

• Christian Brother
• co-brother
• cousin brother/cousin-brother
• everyone and their brother/everybody and their brother
• foster brother/foster-brother
• half brother/half-brother
• lay brother
• little brother
• milk brother
• soul brother
• stepbrother/step-brother
• uterine brother
• Xaverian Brother

Related terms

• Abbreviations: bro, brah, bra, bruh, bruv
• friar
• fraternal
• fraternity

Translations

male sibling

• Aari: isimanna
• Abkhaz: аиашьа (āiāš̍ā)
• Adyghe: шы (šə)
• Afrikaans: broer (af)
• Ainu: ユポ (yupo) (elder)
• Akkadian: 𒋀 (aḫu)
• Albanian: vëlla (sq)
• Amharic: ወንድም (am) (wändm)
• Angor: ranihı
• Arabic: أَخ‎‎ (ar) m (ʾaḵ), شَقِيق‎‎ (ar) m (šaqīq)
• Aragonese: chirmán (an) m
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܐܚܐ‎‎ m (’aħā’)

  Hebrew: אחא‎‎ m (’aħā’)

• Archi: у́шду (úšdu)
• Armenian: եղբայր (hy) (ełbayr), ախպեր (hy) (axper)

  Old Armenian: եղբայր (ełbayr)

• Aromanian: frati (roa-rup) m, frate (roa-rup) m
• Assamese: ভাই (bhai)
• Asturian: hermanu (ast) m
• Aymara: jilata
• Azerbaijani: qardaş (az)
• Bakhtiari: گگه‎‎ (gage)
• Baluchi: برات‎‎ (barát)
• Bashkir: ағай (ağay) (elder); ҡусты (qustï), эне (ene), мырҙа (mïrða) (younger)
• Basque: anaia (eu) (brother of a male), neba (eu) (brother of a female)
• Belarusian: брат m (brat)
• Bengali: ভাই (bn) (bhai), literary: ভ্রাতা (bhrata)
• Breton: breur (br) m, breudeur (br) pl
• Bulgarian: брат (bg) m (brat)
• Burmese: အကို (a.kui) (elder), ညီ (my) (nyi) (younger), မောင် (my) (maung) (younger, for females)
• Buryat: аха (axa) (elder), дуу (duu) (younger)
• Catalan: germà (ca) m
• Chechen: ваша (waša)
• Cherokee: ᏗᎾᏓᏅᏟ (dinadanvtli)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 哥哥 (go^1-4 go¹) (elder), 弟弟 (dai^6-4 dai^6-2) (younger), 兄弟 (hing¹ dai⁶) (brothers), 大佬 (daai⁶ lou²) (elder), 細佬, 细佬 (sai³ lou²) (younger), 阿哥 (aa³ go¹) (elder)

  Mandarin: 哥哥 (zh) (gēge) (elder), 弟弟 (zh) (dìdi) (younger), 兄弟 (zh) (xiōngdì) (brothers), 兄弟 (zh) (xiōngdi) (younger)

  Min Nan: 阿兄 (zh-min-nan) (a-hiaⁿ) (elder), 小弟 (zh-min-nan) (sió-tī) (younger), 兄弟 (zh-min-nan) (hiaⁿ-tī) (brothers), 哥哥 (zh-min-nan) (ko--koh, ko-ko) (elder), 兄哥 (zh-min-nan) (hiaⁿ-ko) (elder), 大兄 (tōa-hiaⁿ) (elder), 大哥 (tōa-ko) (elder)

  Teochew: 阿兄 (zh-min-nan) (a1 hian1) (elder), 阿弟 (a1 di6) (younger)

• Chinook Jargon: ow, kahpo
• Chuvash: ар тӑван (ar tăvan)
• Comanche: tami (younger), pabi (older)
• Coptic: ⲥⲟⲛ (son)
• Corsican: fratellu (co) m, frateddu (co) m
• Crimean Tatar: ağa (elder brother; in the northern dialect: aqa), qardaş (younger brother), kadâ (in the northern dialect: mata)
• Czech: bratr (cs) m
• Dalmatian: frutro m
• Danish: broder (da) c, bror (da) c
• Dhivehi: ކޮއްކޮ‎‎ (koko), ބޭބެ‎‎ (bēbe)
• Dutch: broer (nl) m, broeder (nl) m (formal)
• Eastern Mari: иза (iza), шольо (šolʹo)
• Egyptian: (sn)
• Erzya: леля (lelja), ялакс (jalaks)
• Esperanto: frato
• Estonian: vend (et), veli (et)
• Ewe: nɔviŋutsu (brother), fo (elder brother), tsɛ (younger brother)
• Faroese: bróðir (fo) m, beiggi (fo) m
• Finnish: veli (fi)
• French: frère (fr) m
• Friulian: fradi m
• Galician: irmán m
• Georgian: ძმა (ʒma)
• German: Bruder (de) m

  Alemannic German: Brüeder m

• Gooniyandi: (elder) marna
• Greek: αδελφός (el) m (adelfós)

  Ancient Greek: ἀδελφός m (adelphós)

• Greenlandic: qatanngut angut m
• Gujarati: ભાઈ (gu) m (bhāī)
• Haitian Creole: frè
• Hausa: ɗanuwa
• Hawaiian: kaikuaʻana
• Hebrew: אָח‎‎ (he) m (akh)
• Hindi: भाई (hi) m (bhāī), भ्राता (hi) m (bhrātā)
• Hungarian: fivér (hu), báty (hu) (elder brother), öcs (hu) (younger brother)
• Icelandic: bróðir (is)
• Ido: fratulo (io)
• Igbo: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: saudara (id) n (male sibling), kakak laki-laki m (elder brother), abang (id) m(elder brother), adik laki-laki m (younger brother)
• Ingrian: velli
• Ingush: воша (woša)
• Interlingua: fratre (ia)
• Interlingue: fratre
• Irish: deartháir m
• Istriot: fra m
• Istro-Romanian: fråte m
• Italian: fratello (it) m
• Jamaican Creole: broda, breda
• Japanese: 兄弟 (ja) (きょうだい, kyōdai) (male sibling), 兄 (ja) (あに, ani) (elder), お兄さん (おにいさん, oniisan) (elder, honorific), 兄ちゃん (にいちゃん, nīchan) (big brother), 弟 (ja) (おとうと, otōto) (younger), ブラザー (burazā) (colloquial, ironic or humorous)
• Javanese: kangmas m (elder brother), dimas m (younger brother)
• Judeo-Arabic: אךׄ‎‎ m (ʾax)
• Kabuverdianu: irmon
• Kalmyk: дү (dü)
• Kannada: ಸಹೋದರ (kn) (sahōdara)
• Karachay-Balkar: (Karachay) къарнаш (qarnaş), (Balkar) къарындаш (qarındaş)
• Karelian: velli
• Kashubian: brat m
• Kazakh: (elder) аға (kk) (ağa), (younger) іні (kk) (ini)
• Khmer: (elder) បងប្រុស (bɑɑng proh), (younger) ប្អូនប្រុស (pʾoun proh), ភាតរ (phéatrô), ភាតា (km) (phiətaa)
• Komi-Permyak: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 형제 (ko) (hyeongje), 형님 (ko) (hyeongnim), 오빠 (ko) (oppa), 남동생 (ko) (namdongsaeng), 동생 (ko) (dongsaeng), 아우 (ko) (au), 브라더 (beuradeo) (colloquial, ironic or humorous)
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: bira (ku)

  Northern Kurdish: бьра (bira)

  Sorani: برا‎‎ (ku) (bra)

• Kyrgyz: тууган (ky) (tuugan), бир тууган (ky) (bir tuugan), ини (ky) (ini), ага (ky) (aga), өңдүү (ky) (öñdüü), өз киши (ky) (öz kişi), жолдош (ky) (coldoş), жердеш (ky) (cerdeş), өнөктөш (ky) (önöktöş), кесиптеш (ky) (kesipteş), монах (ky) (monah), кечил (ky) (keçil), дос (ky) (dos)
• Ladino: ermano
• Lao: ອ້າຍ (’āi) (elder), ນ້ອງຊາຍ (nǭng sāi) (younger)
• Latgalian: bruoļs
• Latin: frater (la) m
• Latvian: brālis (lv) m
• Ligurian: fræ
• Lithuanian: brolis (lt) m
• Livonian: veļ
• Low German: Broder (nds) m, Brauder m, Broer m, Bruer m
• Luganda: please add this translation if you can
• Luhya: wandaywe
• Luxembourgish: Brudder (lb) m

• Macedonian: брат (mk) m (brat)
• Malagasy: anadahy (mg)
• Malay:

  Rumi: abang (ms) (elder), adik lelaki (younger)

  Jawi: ابڠ‎‎ (elder), اديق للاکي‎‎ (younger)

• Malayalam: സഹോദരന്‍ (sahōdaran‍), (Elder) ചേട്ടന്‍ (cēṭṭan‍), (Younger) അനിയന്‍ (aniyan‍)
• Maltese: ħu (mt)
• Manchu: ᠠᡥᡡᠨ (ahūn), ᡩᡝᠣ (deo)
• Manx: braar m
• Maori: tuakana (elder), teina (younger), tungāne (of a female), taina (younger, of a male), tuakana (older, of a male)
• Marathi: भाऊ m (bhāū)
• Mazanderani: برار‎‎ (berâr)
• Mi'kmaq: nidap
• Mirandese: armano m
• Moksha: альняка (alʹnjaka), пяльне (pjalʹne)
• Mongolian: ах (mn) (ah) (elder), дүү (mn) (düü) (younger), ах дүү (mn) (ah düü) (brothers in general but including both elder and younger brothers)
• Nama: ǃgâsab
• Navajo: atsilí (younger), ánaaí (elder)
• Tundra Nenets: ня
• Nepali: दाजु (ne) (dāju)
• Nivkh: асӄ (asq), асӄа (asqa), ыкын (ykyn), ыкына (ykyna)
• North Frisian: (Mooring) brouder m, (Föhr-Amrum) bruler m
• Northern Sami: viellja
• Norwegian: bror (no) m
• Novial: fratro
• Occitan: fraire (oc) m
• Ojibwe: nishiime (my younger brother), nisayenh (my older brother)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: братръ m (bratrŭ)

  Glagolitic: ⰱⱃⰰⱅⱃⱏ m (bratrŭ)

• Old East Slavic: братъ m (bratŭ)
• Old English: brōþor m
• Old Norse: bróðir m
• Old Occitan: frayre
• Old Prussian: brāti m
• Oriya: ଭାଇ (or) (bhai)
• Ossetian: ^{(please verify)} ӕнсувӕр (ænsuvær) (Digor), ^{(please verify)} ӕрвадӕ (ærvadæ) (Digor), ^{(please verify)} ӕфсымӕр (æfsymær) (Iron), ^{(please verify)} ӕрвад (ærvad) (Iron)
• Pali: bhātar m
• Pashto: ورور‎‎ (ps) m (wror)
• Persian: برادر‎‎ (fa) (barâdar), داداش‎‎ (fa) (dâdâš), اخ‎‎ (fa) (ax)
• Phoenician: 𐤀𐤇‎‎ (’ḥ)
• Polabian: brot m
• Polish: brat (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: irmão (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਵੀਰ (vīra)
• Quechua: turi, wawqi
• Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
• Romani: phral m

  Kalo Finnish Romani: phal, praal

• Romanian: frate (ro) m
• Romansch: frar m
• Russian: брат (ru) m (brat), бра́тец (ru) m (brátec) (colloquial), брати́шка (ru) m (bratíška) (colloquial), брата́н (ru) m (bratán) (slang)
• Rusyn: брат m (brat)
• Samoan: please add this translation if you can
• Sanskrit: भ्रातृ (sa) m (bhrātṛ)
• Sardinian: fràde m
• Scots: brither, brar
• Scottish Gaelic: bràthair (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: брат m

  Roman: brat (sh) m

• Seri: (younger brother of a female) aacaz
• Sicilian: frati (scn) m
• Sikkimese: please add this translation if you can
• Silesian: brat m
• Sindhi: ڀاءُ‎‎ m
• Sinhalese: (elder) අය්‍යා (ay‍yā), (younger) මල්‍ලි (mal‍li)
• Slovak: brat (sk) m
• Slovene: brat (sl) m
• Slovincian: brãt
• Somali: walaal
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: bratš m

  Upper Sorbian: bratr m

• Spanish: hermano (es) m
• Sundanese: akang (su), aa (su), (elder brother) raka m, rayi, (younger brother) dédé m
• Svan: მუხვბე (muxvbe) (for a brother), ჯჷმილ (ǯəmil) (for a sister)
• Swahili: ndugu (sw), kaka (sw)
• Swedish: bror (sv) c, broder (sv) c (elder/more formal), brorsa (sv) c (colloquial)
• Tagalog: (brother) kapatid na lalaki, (elder brother) kuya (tl), (younger brother) totoy
• Tajik: бародар (tg) (barodar), ах (tg) (ax)
• Talysh: ^{(please verify)} بوه‎‎ (bəva) (Anbarani), ^{(please verify)} برا‎‎ (bərâ) (Asalemi)
• Tamil: சகோதரன் (ta) (cakōtaraṉ), அண்ணன் (ta) (aṇṇaṉ) (elder), தம்பி (ta) (tampi) (younger)
• Taos: p’ǫ́yna (younger), pòpóna (elder)
• Tatar: (elder) абый (tt) (abıy), абзый (tt) (abzıy), (younger) эне (tt) (ene)
• Telugu: సోదరుడు (te) (sōdaruḍu)
• Thai: พี่ (th) (pîi) (elder), พี่ชาย (pîi-chaai) (elder), น้อง (th) (nɔ́ɔng) (younger), น้องชาย (nɔ́ɔng-chaai) (younger), ภราดร (th) (pá-raa-dɔɔn), ภราดา (th) (pá-raa-daa)
• Tibetan: ཇོ་ཇོ (jo jo) (older), ཅོ་ཅོག (co cog) (older), ཇོ་ལགས (jo lags) (older, honorific), འོག་མ ('og ma) (younger), ནུ་བོ (nu bo) (younger), ཨོ་ལགས (o lags) (younger, honorific)
• Tigrinya: ሓወ (ḥawä)
• Tocharian A: pracar
• Tocharian B: procer
• Tongan: tokoua, tuonga'ane
• Turkish: erkek kardeş (tr), kardeş (tr), birader (tr), ağabey (tr) (elder), abi (tr) (elder, colloquial)
• Turkmen: dogan
• Tuvan: акы (akı), дуңма (duŋma)
• Udmurt: брат (brat), агай (agaj), нюня (njunja), вын (vyn)
• Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎃 (ảḫ)
• Ukrainian: брат (uk) m (brat)
• Urdu: بھائی‎‎ m (bhāī), بھراتا‎‎ m (bhrātā)
• Uyghur: ئۇكا‎‎ (ug) (uka) (elder), ئۇكا‎‎ (ug) (uka) (younger)
• Uzbek: aka (uz) (elder), uka (uz) (younger)
• Venetian: german m, fradel m, fradelo m, fradel m, fradelo m
• Vietnamese: anh (vi) or anh trai (vi) (elder), em trai (vi) (younger), em (vi) (younger sibling - brother or sister), (brothers) anh em (vi)
• Volapük: blod (vo), (♂) higem (vo)
• Votic: velli
• Walloon: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: brawd (cy), brodyr (cy) m pl
• West Frisian: broer
• Wolof: mag ju góor, ràkk ju góor, càmmiñ
• Xhosa: ubhuti, umntase, umnakwe
• Yagnobi: буродар, вирот
• Yakut: убай (ubay), бий (biy), быраат (bıraat), ини (ini)
• Yiddish: ברודער‎‎ m (bruder)
• Yoruba: arakunrin
• Yup'ik: anngaq
• Zhuang: beix (elder), nuengx (younger), beixneungx (brothers)
• Zulu: ubhuti

male having parents in common

• Afrikaans: broer (af)
• Armenian: եղբայր (hy) (ełbayr), ախպեր (hy) (axper)
• Asturian: hermanu (ast) m
• Basque: anai (brother of a male), neba (eu) (brother of a female)
• Breton: breur (br) m, breudeur (br) pl
• Bulgarian: брат (bg) m (brat)
• Catalan: germà (ca) m
• Czech: bratr (cs) m
• Danish: broder (da) c, bror (da) c
• Dutch: broer (nl) m, broeder (nl) m (formal)
• Eshtehardi: برار‎‎ (barār)
• Estonian: vend (et)
• Ewe: ^{(please verify)} nɔviŋutsu (brother), ^{(please verify)} fo (elder brother), tsɛ (younger brother)
• Finnish: veli (fi)
• French: frère (fr) m
• Georgian: ძმა (ʒma)
• German: Bruder (de) m
• Greek: αδελφός (el) m (adelfós)

  Ancient: ἀδελφός m (adelphós)

• Hebrew: אח‎‎ (he) m (akh)
• Hungarian: féltestvér (hu)
• Indonesian: saudara (id)
• Interlingua: fratre (ia)
• Irish: deartháir m
• Italian: fratello (it) m
• Japanese: 兄弟 (ja) (きょうだい, kyōdai)
• Kabuverdianu: irmon
• Kurdish:

  Kurmanji: bira (ku)

  Sorani: برا‎‎ (ku) (bra)

• Ladino: ermano

• Latin: frater (la) m
• Latvian: brālis (lv) m
• Lithuanian: brolis (lt) m
• Luxembourgish: Brudder (lb) m
• Macedonian: брат (mk) m (brat)
• Malayalam: സഹോദരന്‍ (sahōdaran‍)
• Manx: braar m
• North Frisian: brouder
• Old English: brōþor m
• Old Prussian: brāti (biological brother)
• Persian: برادر‎‎ (fa) m (barâdar)
• Polish: brat (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: irmão (pt) m
• Romanian: frate (ro) m
• Russian: брат (ru) m (brat)
• Scottish Gaelic: bràthair (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: брат m

  Roman: brat (sh) m

• Slovene: brat (sl) m
• Spanish: hermano (es) m
• Swedish: bror (sv) c, broder (sv) c (elder/more formal)
• Talysh: ^{(please verify)} برا‎‎ (bərâ) (Asalemi)
• Tocharian A: pracar
• Tocharian B: procer
• Tongan: tuonga'ane
• Turkish: kardeş (tr), birader (tr)
• Turkmen: gardaş
• Vietnamese: anh em (vi), huynh đệ (vi)
• Welsh: brawd (cy)
• Yiddish: ברודער‎‎ m (bruder)

male fellow member of a religious community

• Armenian: եղբայր (hy) (ełbayr)
• Belarusian: брацiшак (bracišak)
• Bulgarian: брат (bg) m (brat)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 弟兄 (dai⁶ hing¹)

  Hakka: 兄弟 (hiûng-thi)

  Mandarin: 弟兄 (zh) (dìxiōng)

  Min Nan: 兄弟 (zh-min-nan) (hiaⁿ-tī)

• Czech: bratr (cs)
• Dutch: broeder (nl) m
• Esperanto: frato
• Estonian: vend (et)
• Finnish: veli (fi)
• French: frère (fr) m
• German: Bruder (de) m
• Greek: αδελφός (el) m (adelfós)
• Hungarian: hittestvér (hu)
• Indonesian: bruder (id) m (christian)

• Interlingua: fratre (ia)
• Irish: bráthair m
• Italian: fratello (it) m, confratello m
• Japanese: 修道士 (しゅうどうし, shūdōshi), ブラザー (burazā)
• Macedonian: брат (mk) m (brat)
• Malay: saudara
• Manx: braar m
• Maori: parata
• Persian: برادر‎‎ (fa) (barâdar)
• Polish: brat (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: frade (pt) m, irmão (pt) m
• Romanian: frate (ro) m
• Spanish: hermano (es) m
• Swedish: broder (sv) c
• Turkish: kardeş (tr)
• Turkmen: gardaş
• Volapük: (male) hirodan (vo)

peer

• Dutch: broeder (nl) m
• Esperanto: frato
• Estonian: oma (et)
• Finnish: veli (fi)
• French: pair (fr) m, semblable (fr) m, f
• Greek: αδελφός (el) m (adelfós)
• Haitian Creole: frè
• Indonesian: saudara (id)

  Javanese: mas

  Sundanese: kang

• Italian: fratello (it) m, pari (it)
• Kabuverdianu: irmon
• Portuguese: irmão (pt) m
• Romanian: frate (ro) m
• Spanish: hermano (es) m
• Turkish: kardeş (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} أَخ‎‎ m (ʾaḵ)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} frato
• Guaraní: (brother of a female; 1) ^{(please verify)} kyvy (gn), (younger brother of a male; tyvýra/ryvy/ityvýra) ^{(please verify)} yvýra (1), (elder brother of a male; tyke'y/ryke'y/ityke'y) ^{(please verify)} yke'y (1)
• Interlingua: (1,3) ^{(please verify)} fratre (ia)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 형제 (ko) (hyeongje)
• Marathi: ^{(please verify)} भाऊ ? (bhāu)
• Mi'kmaq: ^{(please verify)} nidap
• Norwegian: (1) ^{(please verify)} bror (no), (little brother; 1) ^{(please verify)} lillebror, (big brother; 1) ^{(please verify)} storebror, (elder form/formal) ^{(please verify)} Broder, (stepbrother; 2) ^{(please verify)} stebror, (half-brother; 2) ^{(please verify)} halvbror
• Sanskrit: ^{(please verify)} बंधू (bandhu)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అన్న (te) (anna), ^{(please verify)} అన్నయ్య (te) (annayya) (elder brother), ^{(please verify)} తమ్ముడు (te) (tammuḍu) (younger brother)
• Tupinambá: (brother of a female; 1) ^{(please verify)} kybyra, (younger brother of a male; t-, t-) ^{(please verify)} ybyra, (elder brother of a male; t-, t-) ^{(please verify)} yke'yra
• Xhosa: ^{(please verify)} bhuti

Descendants

• Bahamian Creole: bredda
• Belizean Creole: breda
• Bislama: brata
• Cameroon Pidgin: bro̱da
• Gullah: broda
• Islander Creole English: broda
• Kabuverdianu: bróda
• Krio: brohda
• Nicaraguan Creole: brada
• Nigerian Pidgin: broda
• Pichinglis: brɔda
• Pijin: brata
• Saramaccan: baáa
• Sranan Tongo: brada
  • → Dutch: brada
• Tok Pisin: brata, barata
• → Portuguese: bróder, bródi

Verb

brother (third-person singular simple present brothers, present participle brothering, simple past and past participle brothered)

1. (transitive) To treat as a brother.
   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
   • Seest thou not we are overreached, and that our proposed mode of communicating with our friends without has been disconcerted by this same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother?

Translations

to treat as a brother

• Finnish: veljeillä (fi)
• French: fraterniser (fr)
• German: verbrüdern (de)
• Greek: συναδελφώνομαι (el) (synadelfónomai)

• Norwegian: brors
• Romanian: înfrăți (ro), fraterniza (ro)
• Turkish: kardeş saymak, kardeş bellemek, kardeş bilmek

Interjection

brother

1. Expressing exasperation.

   We're being forced to work overtime? Oh, brother!

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English brōþor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbroːðər/

Noun

brother (plural brothers or bretheren)

1. brother

Descendants

• Scots: brither, bruther, broder, bruder
• English: brother (see there for further descendants)
• Yola: brover, brower

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Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *brōþēr.

Noun

brōther m

1. brother

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Amrum: bruder

  Föhr: bruler

  Northern Goesharder: (Hoolmer) broor, (Hoorninger) brår

  Southern Goesharder: brööðer

  Hallig: bröör

  Halunder: Bruur

  Mooring: brouder

  Söl'ring: Bröðer

• Saterland Frisian: Brour, Bruur
• West Frisian: broer

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Portuguese

Noun

brother m (plural brothers)

1. Alternative spelling of bróder