brother
A male sibling; a man sharing parents with another.
Etymology
From Old English brōþor, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from PIE *bʰréh₂tēr. The aspirated *bʰ- became b- in Germanic. This is another remarkably stable kinship term preserved across the entire Indo-European family.
The Journey: *bʰréh₂tēr → brother
*bʰréh₂tēr
*brōþēr
brōþor
brother
brother
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *bʰréh₂tēr. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | phrātēr |
| Latin | frāter |
| Sanskrit | bhrā́tṛ |
| Old Irish | bráthair |
| Lithuanian | broterelis |
| Old Church Slavonic | bratŭ |
Did You Know?
Latin frāter and English brother are the same word — the PIE *bʰ- became f- in Latin but b- in Germanic. The Greek form phrātēr shifted to mean "clan member" rather than blood sibling.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰréh₂tēr. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.