confraternities

Variant of confraternity

confraternity definition

con·fra·ter·nity (kän′frə tʉr′nə tē)

noun pl. confraternities -·ties

  1. fraternal bond; brotherhood
  2. a group of men (or, sometimes, men and women) associated for some purpose or in a profession; esp., a religious society, usually of laymen, with a devotional or charitable purpose

Etymology: ME confraternite < ML confraternitas: see com- & fraternity

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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