Profraternity
/ˌproʊfrəˈtɜːrnəti/noun
A Catholic religious association established as a preliminary or affiliated form of a confraternity or archconfraternity.
Did you know?In Catholic usage, a profraternity functioned as an affiliated or preparatory brotherhood, linking local devotional groups to a more prestigious archconfraternity.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰréh₂tēr
“Brother; the ancestral kinship term behind Latin frater.”
Classical Latin
Latin
frater
“Brother, especially a male sibling or fellow member of a religious or social group.”
Late Latin
Latin
fraternitas
“Brotherhood, fellowship, or the condition of being brothers.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
profraternitas
“A preliminary or affiliated brotherhood; formed from pro-, meaning 'before' or 'in place of,' and fraternitas.”
Early Modern English
English
profraternity
“An ecclesiastical association of a preparatory or affiliated type.”
Modern English
English
profraternity
“A rare Catholic term for an association related to, but not yet fully elevated to, an archconfraternity.”
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