fraternal
/frəˈtɜːnl/ (bre, ipa) · /frəˈtɜːrnl/ (ame, ipa) · /frə-ˈtər-nᵊl/ (ame, mw)
fraternal — adjective
- fraternalpositive
- more fraternalcomparative
- most fraternalsuperlative
1. describing a relationship, feeling, or behaviour that involves brothers or that
describing a relationship, feeling, or behaviour that involves brothers or that links people in the way brothers are linked
Renata wrote a long letter about the fraternal bond she shared with her older brother Hari.
collocation: fraternal bond
Their fraternal rivalry over football trophies started when Leo and Tuan were still in primary school.
collocation: fraternal rivalry
Christopher offered fraternal advice to his younger brother before the wedding ceremony in Kyoto.
The two princes appeared together at the funeral as a public sign of fraternal loyalty.
Zayd treasured the fraternal love that grew between him and his three brothers during their childhood.
- sororal
formal counterpart referring to sisters
文法句型
fraternal + noun
用法筆記
Almost always attributive: describes a noun directly (fraternal bond, fraternal love, fraternal rivalry). Rare after 'be'.
常見錯誤
2. behaving toward someone who is not a relative with the warmth, support, and easy
behaving toward someone who is not a relative with the warmth, support, and easy familiarity that brothers usually share
Emily gave her new neighbour a fraternal hug after he carried her shopping up four flights of stairs.
collocation: fraternal hug / pat / gesture
The retired coach kept up a fraternal friendship with every player he had trained over thirty years.
collocation: fraternal friendship
Talia welcomed the volunteers from Manila with a fraternal warmth that put them instantly at ease.
Yuki and her classmates were fraternal toward the new transfer student from Vietnam during his first month.
The two old soldiers exchanged a fraternal greeting in the train station, though they had not met in years.
文法句型
fraternal + noun
be fraternal toward someone
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense applies to people who are NOT brothers but who treat each other in a brother-like way. Often paired with words for greetings, gestures, or general goodwill.
常見錯誤
3. describing a club, lodge, or society whose members join together for mutual help
describing a club, lodge, or society whose members join together for mutual help and shared values, often through formal ceremonies and a private membership
Yasmin's grandfather paid his fraternal society dues every month for fifty-two years until he died.
collocation: fraternal society / order / organisation
The mayor of the small town joined three fraternal organisations to build political support before the election.
Many old factories in Pittsburgh had a fraternal lodge nearby where workers met after their shifts.
Yuna's college fraternal order helped pay her hospital bills when she broke her leg in the accident.
Élise discovered an old photograph showing her great-grandfather in the regalia of a fraternal benefit club.
- mutual-benefit
stresses the financial-help function; narrower than fraternal
- secret-society
stresses the ritual or hidden aspect; not all fraternal groups are secret
文法句型
fraternal + organisation noun
用法筆記
Subject is usually a noun naming a formal group: society, order, organisation, lodge, association, club. Distinguish from sense 1 — here 'fraternal' marks the institution, not a feeling between people.
常見錯誤
4. describing twins who developed from two different egg cells fertilised at the sa
describing twins who developed from two different egg cells fertilised at the same time, so they may be different sexes and look no more alike than ordinary siblings
Yuki and her brother are fraternal twins, born seven minutes apart at a hospital in Osaka.
collocation: fraternal twins
Doctors confirmed early in the pregnancy that Renata was carrying fraternal twins, not identical ones.
contrasted with 'identical twins'
The twins looked nothing alike because they were fraternal, with different blood types and different eye colours.
Fraternal twins run in Talia's family on her mother's side, going back at least four generations.
The midwife in Lagos explained that fraternal twins come from two separate eggs, not one egg that splits.
- dizygotic
medical term for the same concept; used in clinical writing
- non-identical
everyday phrase; same meaning in plain English
- identical
twins from one egg that has split
- monozygotic
medical term for identical twins
文法句型
fraternal twins
用法筆記
Almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'fraternal twins'. The technical equivalent is 'dizygotic'. Contrast with 'identical' or 'monozygotic' twins, which come from a single fertilised egg.