fraternity

UK: /frəˈtɜː^rnɪti/ US: /frəˈtɝnɪti/ ,(frə tûr′ni tē)

Inflections of 'fraternity' (n): npl: fraternities

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

fra•ter•ni•ty /frəˈtɜrnɪti/   n., pl. -ties. 

1. [countable] a social organization of male college students usually with secret initiation and rites and a name made from Greek letters.
2. a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood:
   [countable] the medical fraternity.
3. [uncountable] the quality or state of being brotherly;
   brotherhood.

See -frat-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

fra•ter•ni•ty  (frə tûr′ni tē), n., pl. -ties. 

1. a local or national organization of male students, primarily for social purposes, usually with secret initiation and rites and a name composed of two or three Greek letters.
2. a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood.
3. any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc.:
   the medical fraternity.
4. an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes;
   sodality.
5. the quality of being brotherly;
   brotherhood:
   liberty, equality, and fraternity.
6. the relation of a brother or between brothers.

• Latin frāternitās. See fraternal, -ity
• Middle English fraternite 1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fraternity / frəˈtɜːnɪtɪ/ noun ( -ties)

1. a body of people united in interests, aims, etc: the teaching fraternity
2. brotherhood
3. a society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club