Quote:
Originally posted by JayBEE!!
Now with this information, It makes me wonder about the part in your definition with the "people with common interest". It sounds better that way for the word to fit the usage. It has drawn me to ask more intriquing questions: 1) Could it be that within the usage of the word "Fraternity" for women, that phratry was found after the fact and extra meaning may have been placed on the word for sort of a retro fit? 2) Why would other organizations go to another completely different word? 3)Why not use the word Phratrie? 4) Could a new organization develop and use the term Phratrie, instead of Fraternity or Sorority? Or 5)would the term Phratrie, fit better as decriptions of pledge groups within a Fraternity or Sorority?
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JayBEE, there seems to be some confusion here. The English word "fraternity" is derived from Latin
frater by way of Middle English, not from Greek (except perhaps indirectly, to the extent that the Latin
frater is itself related to Greek). Here is the etymology my dictionary gives:
"FRATERNITY: [ME
fraternity < L
fraternitas. See FRATERNAL]
FRATERNAL: [< L
fratern(us) (see FRATER + -AL)]
FRATER:
n. a brother, as in a religious or fraternal order; comrade. [< L: BROTHER]
As this etymology implies the word "fraternity" (or the form "confraternity") has been around much longer than GLO's. Various religious and masonic groups have long used the term.
FWIW.