brotherhood

Etymology

From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of Early Middle English brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhood, fellowship”), equivalent to brother + -red (see brotherred). More at brother, -red.

noun

1. The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).
   brotherdom
   "Read lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you. "Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrible and deadly for us as your "friendship and brotherhood." 09/11/22, Scott McDonald, quoting President Volodymyr Zelensky, “Cold, Hunger and Darkness in Ukraine 'Not as Terrible' as Russia: Zelensky”, in Newsweek, archived from the original on 2022-09-12
2. An association of people for any purpose, such as a society of monks; a fraternity.
   James formed a kind of brotherhood for ex-pats who were working in Valencia.
3. All the people engaged in the same business, especially those of the same profession
   the legal brotherhood
   the medical brotherhood
4. People, or (poetically) things, of the same kind.
   a brotherhood of venerable trees 1800, William Wordsworth, Degenerate Douglas