confraternity


Also found in: Wikipedia.

con·fra·ter·ni·ty

 (kŏn′frə-tûr′nĭ-tē)
n. pl. con·fra·ter·ni·ties
An association of persons united in a common purpose or profession.

[Middle English confraternite, from Old French, from Medieval Latin cōnfrāternitās, from cōnfrāter, colleague; see confrere.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

confraternity

(ˌkɒnfrəˈtɜːnɪtɪ)
n, pl -ties
a group of men united for some particular purpose, esp Christian laymen organized for religious or charitable service; brotherhood
[C15: from Medieval Latin confrāternitās; see confrère, fraternity]
ˌconfraˈternal adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•fra•ter•ni•ty

(ˌkɒn frəˈtɜr nɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.
1. a lay brotherhood devoted to some religious or charitable service.
2. a society, esp. of men, united for some purpose or in some profession.
[1425–75; late Middle English < Medieval Latin confrāternitās, derivative of confrāter (see confrere), on the model of Latin frāternitās fraternity]
con`fra•ter′nal, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

confraternity

a brotherhood, especially a group of men bound by a common goal or interest.
See also: Society
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Confraternity

 an association of men united together for some profession or object. See also brotherhood, clan, fraternity.
Examples: confraternity of aldermen, 1654; of chimney sweeps, 1688; of men-milliners [‘dandies’], 1885; of monks and friars, 1688; of potters, 1601; of traitors, 1872.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
The "voyageurs" form a kind of confraternity in the Canadas, like the arrieros, or carriers of Spain, and, like them, are employed in long internal expeditions of travel and traffic: with this difference, that the arrieros travel by land, the voyageurs by water; the former with mules and horses, the latter with batteaux and canoes.
The Prior sat down, and at great leisure indited an epistle to Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and having carefully sealed up the tablets, delivered them to the Jew, saying, ``This will be thy safe-conduct to the Preceptory of Templestowe, and, as I think, is most likely to accomplish the delivery of thy daughter, if it be well backed with proffers of advantage and commodity at thine own hand; for, trust me well, the good Knight Bois-Guilbert is of their confraternity that do nought for nought.''
Whereupon, as if released on either side from some kind of vague fear, our confidences came thick and fast, when we found that we were in the same confraternity of love.
Elkana noted that the 20-year-old suspect, who confessed to being a member of the Ayie Confraternity, was intercepted with an automatic pistol concealed in his bag.
He also said that the defendant belonged to a secret cult known as Vikings Confraternity.
Harpist and philanthropist Irene Watt has been commended by the Confraternity of the Knights of the Most Holy Trinity in Scotland.
Dr Hassan said the Minhaj is working on great spiritual teachings and traditions of brotherhood and confraternity and that by arranging the mass wedding the Foundation performed its religious, moral and national duty.
The Nigerian woman is suspected of playing a key role in an organised criminal network known as the 'Eiye Confraternity' - which spanned Nigeria, Libya, Italy and Spain.
After reviewing the state of research, they offer such perspectives as liturgical music and liturgical experience in early modern Italy, musical dispatches from the heavenly Jerusalem, catechismum modulans docebat: teaching the doctrine through singing in early modern Catholicism, music for the soul: death and piety in 16th-century Barcelona, and confraternity multipart singing: contemporary practice and hypothetical scenarios for the early modern era.
Founding a native religious confraternity in the 1830s, he was persecuted by the Spanish friars, tried and executed in 1841-two decades before Jose Rizal was born; three decades before the Gomburza were executed; and over half a century before Gregorio Aglipay established the native church.
Melvin Castro, director general of the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, noted that stories of weeping images of Jesus' mother had surfaced in the media.
Today Bulgaria celebrates the 177-th anniversary of the birth of its national hero, the aApostle of Freedoma Vasil Levski.Vasil Ivanov Kunchev was born in the town of Karlovo a son to a poor family that he had to take care of early in his life after the death of his father.A In his young years he joined a monastic confraternity, but left it to join the Bulgarian freedom movement.A Shortly after joining the First Bulgarian Legion, he acquired the nickname "Levski" (the Lion) after performing a spectacular jump over a training pit.