brother-german
(ˌbrʌðəˈdʒɜːmən)
Pl. brothers-german (formerly brethren-).
[f. brother n. + german.]
A brother through both parents; a ‘whole’ brother.
Early writers also used it as = ‘brother on the mother's side, brother-uterine’; it has been proposed in modern times to restrict it to ‘brother on the father's side’.
| 1340 Ayenb. 146 Broþer germayn of uader and of moder. c 1450 Merlin viii. 122 Thei be men of high lynage, and be bretheren germain. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxv. 230 Karoll the grete kyng of fraunce was broder germayn of Quene Isabell kynge Edwardes moder. 1530 Palsgr. 201/2 Brother germayne, frere germain. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v. German, Brother German denotes a brother both by the father's and mother's side. 1882 A. Macfarlane Consanguinity 8, I use the term brother-german, to denote brother on the father's side. |