Also 6 Sc. bruder. [f. prec. sb.]
1. trans. To make a brother of; to admit to brotherhood; also, to treat or address as brother.
1573. Sege Edinb. Castel, in Scot. Poems 16th C., II. 289. Thay ar bowit and bruderit in our band.
1584. Fenner, Def. Ministers (1587), 7. Howe can you brother vs thus in euerie line, and deale so vnbrotherlie with vs in euerie sentence?
1706. Farquhar, Recruit. Officer, I. i. No coaxing, no brothering me ’faith.
1820. Scott, Ivanhoe, II. iv. 62. This same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother.
c. 1825. Beddoes, Sec. Brother, II. ii. Marcello is my brother, I am his, If coming of one mother brother us.
2. To be a brother to. To brother it: to act or behave as a brother.
c. 1600. Chapman, Iliad, XIII. 692. She that brought thee forth not utterly left me Without some portion of thy spirit to make me brother thee.
a. 1648. Ld. Herbert, Life (1826), 327. There remains now but you and I to brother it.
Hence Brothering vbl. sb. rare.
1818. Southey, Lett. (1856), III. 97. By … such brothering and sistering he kept up his influence among his people.
