brothered

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of brother.

   The veteran soldiers brothered the recruits through their first hard winter.

   Once he was brothered by the village elders, doors opened everywhere.

   Note

   Built on the verb meaning "to treat as a brother," which was itself drawn from the noun. Because that verb is transitive, the form wants an object in the past tense (they brothered the recruits) and sits naturally in the passive (he was brothered by the elders). It shares its spelling with the obsolete word for brotherhood only by accident, since the two have separate origins.

2. 2
   nounobsoleteuncountable

   Alternative form of brotherred.

   Note

   A noun hiding behind what looks like a past-tense spelling. It continues Middle English brotherrede, "brotherhood", so the ending belongs to the old word and is not a verb suffix. The meaning, brotherhood or fraternity, is obsolete and uncountable. It belongs to historical reading, not modern prose. A writer today who means fellowship should simply use brotherhood.

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