Other forms: brotherhoods
Brotherhood is the bond between brothers, or between people who share a cause. A sense of brotherhood, the brotherhood of man, a religious brotherhood.
As a countable noun, a brotherhood is an organised group bound by shared belief or trade — a religious brotherhood, a secret brotherhood. The abstract sense is about solidarity: liberty, equality, fraternity translates the third word as brotherhood. Sisterhood is the counterpart and is used more actively now. Note the -hood ending, which means a state or condition, as in childhood, neighbourhood and falsehood.
1nounbrotherhoodThe bond between brothers or people sharing a cause.
“The soldiers felt a strong sense of brotherhood after surviving the war together.”
2nounorganisedAn organised group bound by shared belief.
“The brotherhood ran the hospital for about three centuries.”
brotherhood is a bond or group.
The -hood ending comes from an Old English word meaning condition or rank, and it was once a separate noun. Brotherhood, childhood and knighthood are all built from it, and it is one of the few native English suffixes still producing new words.
Middle English
brotherhod
English, today
brotherhood
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. friarhood.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA