fraternal

adj

1. Of or pertaining to a brother or brothers.

   “By Cognate or Domestic duties, we mean those which grow out of the different family relations; and which may be classed as conjugal, parental, filial, and fraternal.”

   “The Bhratridvitiya, or fraternal rite of the Hindoos, is an institution of this nature, being admirably calculated to cement the natural bond of union between brothers and sisters of the same family.”

   “Yet, in leaving, Judah removes himself not only from fraternal violence but from familial destiny as well.”

2. Of or pertaining to a fraternity.

   “The changing Afro-American class structure shaped the war and postwar growth of black religious and fraternal organizations in southern West Virginia.”

   “Ambivalence toward the larger society even permeated the Reichsbanner. the only SPD fraternal organization that, on paper at least, embraced bourgeois republican groups.”

   “North and South, fraternal and sororital organizations were an integral aspect of urban culture among the mass of working-class black men and women.”

   “Surfer dudes and frat dudes are simply buddies; their interaction is facilitated by the homosocial context of shared sport or fraternal membership, not the willful pursuit of gay sex.”

3. Platonic or friendly.

   “[…] a delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ "Phil! You! Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow!" recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.”

   “He took advantage of this opportunity to consider Christian liberty in its relation to the demands of fraternal charity.”

   “And when he arrives he, our Sovereign, will receive you honorably because of his Tsar's Majesty's fraternal love and friendship to him.”

4. Of twins or embryos, produced from two different eggs and sperm, and genetically distinct.

   “Seventy percent of twins are fraternal and result from fertilization of two separate ova by two different sperm.”

   “Because each egg and each sperm of a fraternal zygote contain slightly different genetic material, these two embryos do not have identical genetic makeups.”

   “The rate of natural fraternal embryo fusion is not well documented.”

noun

1. A society formed to provide mutual aid, such as insurance.

   “Here comes in the importance of the proposed bill for the uniform regulation of fraternals.”

   “Accident and health insurance written by fraternals are discussed under the section on fraternals.”

   “The ethnic fraternals benefitted from the favorable climate for fraternalism and voluntarism that existed in the United States, and borrowed ideas and practices from native organizations such as the AOUW, and from fraternals started earlier in the century by immigrants who by now were solid members of the middle class.”

2. A fraternal twin.

   “Her twins were adorable boy-girl fraternals who wore boy-girl clothes in the same fabric.”

   “The bulk of the confusion concerns identicals who are really fraternals.”

   “Tests show that even in the first year of life, the fear of strangers develops more similarly along identical twins than fraternals.”