Fraternity can mean a group of people joined by a common interest or job, or a social organization for male students at some universities. It also carries the idea of brotherhood and friendly connection.
From Latin “fraternitas” meaning “brotherhood,” from “frater” (brother). The word has long been used for both religious and social brotherhoods.
Fraternity shares roots with ‘fraternal’ and even ‘friar’—all about brotherly bonds. The modern college fraternity adds rituals, houses, and symbols to turn that abstract idea of brotherhood into a lived, daily identity.
“Fraternity” comes from Latin for brotherhood and has long implied male-only groups, from medieval guilds to modern college fraternities. It has been used to name professional and social networks that excluded women or relegated them to auxiliary roles.
Use “fraternity” specifically for organizations that self-identify with that term. For general concepts of solidarity or community, prefer gender-neutral terms.
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Parallel women’s organizations and co-ed groups emerged to provide access where fraternities excluded women, and women have often built their own professional networks outside male-dominated fraternities.
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