brother:兄弟;(也可指)同胞、同仁(强调亲近或共同身份)。最常见用法是指“男性兄弟”。
/ˈbrʌðər/
My brother is two years older than me.
我哥哥/弟弟比我大两岁。
Though they aren’t related by blood, he calls his best friend his brother because they’ve been through so much together.
虽然他们没有血缘关系,但他把最好的朋友称作“兄弟”,因为他们一起经历了很多事。
来自古英语 brōþor,与德语 Bruder、荷兰语 broeder 同源,属于日耳曼语系的共同词根,原意就是“兄弟/同胞”。后来在英语里也发展出更宽泛的引申义,用来表示“同伴、同道中人”。