fra·ter·ni·ty

[fruh-tur-ni-tee]
noun, plural fra·ter·ni·ties.
1.
a local or national organization of male students, primarily for social purposes, usually with secret initiation and rites and a name composed of two or three Greek letters.
2.
a group of persons associated by or as if by ties of brotherhood.
3.
any group or class of persons having common purposes, interests, etc.: the medical fraternity.
4.
an organization of laymen for religious or charitable purposes; sodality.
5.
the quality of being brotherly; brotherhood: liberty, equality, and fraternity.
6.
the relation of a brother or between brothers.

Origin:
1300–50; Middle English fraternite < Latin frāternitās. See fraternal, -ity

in·ter·fra·ter·ni·ty, adjective
non·fra·ter·ni·ty, noun, plural non·fra·ter·ni·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Fraternity is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
fraternity (frəˈtɜːnɪtɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ties
1.  Gender-neutral form: community a body of people united in interests, aims, etc: the teaching fraternity
2.  brotherhood
3.  (US), (Canadian) a secret society joined by male students, usually functioning as a social club

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

fraternity
early 14c., "body of men associated by common interest," from O.Fr. fraternité, from L. fraternitatem (nom. fraternitas), from fraternus "brotherly," from frater "brother," from PIE *bhrater (see brother). College Greek-letter organization sense is from 1777, first
in reference to Phi Beta Kappa; shortened form frat first recorded 1895.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Think only of the initiation into fraternity and sorority houses.
Prospective fraternity and sorority members are still kicked, paddled and
  punched.
The aid fraternity is fascinated and appalled by these two sorry affairs.
In fact, they have remained surprisingly conspicuous, becoming a kind of
  secular scripture for the aid fraternity.
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