Online Etymology Dictionary

Brother Jonathan: sobriquet for "United States," 1816, often connected with Jonathan Trumbull (1740-1809) of Connecticut, called Brother Jonathan by George Washington, who often sought his advice, somehow in ref. to 2 Sam i:26.
Jonathan: masc. proper name, biblical son of Saul, from Heb. Yonathan, short for Yehonathan, lit. "the Lord has given" (cf. Nathan). As a pre-Uncle Sam emblem of the United States, sometimes personified as Brother Jonathan, it dates from 1816, said to have been applied by Washington to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull Sr. of Connecticut (1710-1785), to whom he sometimes turned for advice (cf. 2 Sam. i.26); hence "a New Englander," and eventually "an American." As a variety of red apple it dates from 1831, so called because it was introduced in the U.S.
brother in law: c.1300; also brother-in-law; see brother. In Arabic, Urdu, Swahili, etc., brother-in-law, when addressed to a male who is not a brother-in-law, is an extreme insult, with implications of "I slept with your sister."
fratricide: mid-15c., "person who kills a brother;" 1560s, "act of killing a brother," from L. fratricida "brother-slayer," from frater "brother" (see brother) + cida "killer," or cidum "a killing," both from caedere "to kill, to cut down" (see -cide). Among several Old English words for this were broðorbana "one who kills a brother;" broðorcwealm "act of killing a brother."
Uncle Sam: symbol of the United States of America, 1813, coined during the war with Britain as a contrast to John Bull, and no doubt suggested by the initials U.S. "[L]ater statements connecting it with different government officials of the name of Samuel appear to be unfounded" [OED]. The common figure of Uncle Sam began to appear in political cartoons c.1850. Only gradually superseded earlier Brother Jonathan (1776), largely through the popularization of the figure by cartoonist Thomas Nast. British in World War I sometimes called U.S. soldiers Sammies.
friar: late 13c., from O.Fr. frere "brother, friar" (9c.), originally the mendicant orders (Franciscans, Augustines, Dominicans, Carmelites), who reached England early 13c., from L. frater "brother" (see brother).
onanism: "masturbation," 1727, from Onan, son of Judah (Gen. xxxviii:9), who spilled his seed on the ground rather than impregnate his dead brother's wife: "And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother." The moral of this verse was redirected by those who sought to suppress masturbation.
pal: 1680s, from Romany (English Gypsy) pal "brother, comrade," variant of continental Romany pral, plal, phral, probably from Skt. bhrata "brother" (see brother).
Better late than never, Pal, is a saying applicable on the present occasion. [Lord Byron, 1807]
The verb is first recorded 1879. Related: Palled; palling.
levirate (n.): custom by which the male next-of-kin of a dead man was bound to marry his widow, 1725, from L. levir "brother-in-law" (from PIE *daiwer- "husband's brother") + -ate (2).
confrere: early 15c., from O.Fr. confrere "brother, companion" (13c.), from M.L. confrater, from com- "together, with" (see com-) + frater "brother" (see brother). Probably lost in later 17c. and reborrowed 19c. from Fr. confrère.
brother: O.E. broþor, from P.Gmc. *brothar (cf. O.N. broðir, Dan. broder, O.Fris. brother, Du. broeder, Ger. Bruder, Goth. bróþar), from PIE root *bhrater (cf. Skt. bhrátár-, O.Pers. brata, Gk. phratér, L. frater, O.Ir. brathir, Welsh brawd, Lith. broterelis, O.Prus. brati, O.C.S. bratru, Czech bratr "brother"). As a familiar term of address from one man to another, it is attested from 1912 in U.S. slang; the specific use among blacks is recorded from 1973.
fraternity: early 14c., "body of men associated by common interest," from O.Fr. fraternité (12c.), from L. fraternitatem (nom. fraternitas) "brotherhood," from fraternus "brotherly," from frater "brother," from PIE *bhrater (see brother). Meaning "state or condition of being as brothers" is from late 15c. College Greek-letter organization sense is from 1777, first in reference to Phi Beta Kappa.
Lilliputian (adj.): "diminutive, tiny," lit. "pertaining to Lilliput," the fabulous island whose inhabitants were six inches high, a name coined by Jonathan Swift in "Gulliver's Travels" (1726). Swift left no explanation of the origin of the word.
Freemason: late 14c., originally a traveling guild of masons with a secret code; in the early 17c. they began accepting honorary members and teaching them the secrets and lore, which by 1717 had developed into the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons. The exact origin of the free- is a subject of dispute. Some [e.g. Klein] see a corruption of Fr. frère "brother," from frèremaçon "brother mason;" others say it was because the masons worked on "free-standing" stones; still others see them as "free" from the control of local guilds or lords [OED].
gamete: "sexual protoplasmic body," 1886, name introduced in Modern Latin by Austrian biologist Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), from Gk. gamete "a wife," gametes "a husband," from gamein "to take to wife, to marry," from PIE root *gem(e)- "to marry" (cf. Gk. gambros "son-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law;" Skt. jamih "brother, sister," jama daughter-in-law;" Avestan zama-tar "son-in-law;" L. gener "son-in-law"). Cf. also -gamy. The seventh month of the ancient Attic calendar (corresponding to late January and early February) was Gamelion, "Month of Marriages."
cousin: mid-12c., from O.Fr. cosin (12c., Mod.Fr. cousin) "nephew, kinsman, cousin," from L. consobrinus "cousin," originally "mother's sister's son," from com- "together" (see com-) + sobrinus (earlier *sosrinos) "cousin on mother's side," from soror (gen. sororis) "sister." It. cugino, Dan. kusine, Pol. kuzyn also are from French. Ger. vetter is from O.H.G. fetiro "uncle."

Many IE languages (including Irish, Sanskrit, Slavic, and some of the Germanic tongues) have or had separate words for some or all of the eight possible "cousin" relationships, e.g. Latin, which along with consobrinus had consobrina "mother's sister's daughter," patruelis "father's brother's son," atruelis "mother's brother's son," amitinus "father's sister's son," etc. O.E. distinguished fæderan sunu "father's brother's son," modrigan sunu "mother's sister's son," etc.

Words for cousin tend to drift to "nephew" on the notion of "father's nephew." Used familiarly as a term of address since early 15c., especially in Cornwall. Phrase kissing cousin is Southern U.S. expression, 1940s, apparently denoting "those close enough to be kissed in salutation;" Kentish cousin (1796) is an old British term for "distant relative."
Big Brother: "ubiquitous and repressive but apparently benevolent authority" first recorded 1949, from George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four."
Sephardim: pl. of Sephardi "a Spanish or Portuguese Jew" (1851), from Mod.Heb. Sepharaddim "Spaniards, Jews of Spain," from Sepharad, name of a country mentioned only in Obad. v:20, probably meaning "Asia Minor" or a country in it (Lydia, Phrygia), but identified by the rabbis after Jonathan Targum as "Spain."
bully (n.): 1530s, originally "sweetheart," applied to either sex, from Du. boel "lover, brother," probably dim. of M.H.G. buole "brother," of uncertain origin (cf. Ger. buhle "lover"). Meaning deteriorated 17c. through "fine fellow," "blusterer," to "harasser of the weak" (1680s, from bully-ruffian, 1650s). Perhaps this was by influence of bull (n.1), but a connecting sense between "lover" and "ruffian" may be in "protector of a prostitute," which was one sense of bully (though not specifically attested until 1706). The verb is first attested 1710. The expression meaning "worthy, jolly, admirable" (esp. in 1864 U.S. slang bully for you!) is first attested 1680s, and preserves an earlier, positive sense of the word.
bro: colloquial abbreviation of brother, attested from 1660s.
bubba: Southern U.S. slang, 1860s, a corruption of brother.
brethren: alternative plural of brother (q.v.); predominant c.1200-1600s, but surviving only in religious usage.
alive: c.1200, from O.E. on life "in living." The fuller form on live was still current 17c. Alive and kicking "alert, vigorous," attested from 1859; "The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening" [Farmer]. Used emphatically, especially with man; e.g.:
[A]bout a thousand gentlemen having bought his almanacks for this year, merely to find what he said against me, at every line they read they would lift up their eyes, and cry out betwixt rage and laughter, "they were sure no man alive ever writ such damned stuff as this." [Jonathan Swift, Bickerstaff's Vindication, 1709]
Thus abstracted as an expletive, man alive! (1845).
brer: in Brer Rabbit, etc., 1881, Joel Chandler Harris' representation of U.S. Southern black pronunciation of brother.
simonize: 1934, from simoniz, trademark for a type of car polish invented by George Simons, who along with Elmer Rich of the Great Northern Railway organized Simons Manufacturing Company to sell it in Chicago, U.S.A., in 1910. Rich and his brother, R.J. Rich, acquired sole ownership two years later.
aga: title of rank, especially in Turkey, c.1600, from Turkish agha "chief, master, lord," related to E.Turk. agha "elder brother."
Hiram: masc. proper name, from Phoenician/Hebrew Hiram, perhaps aphetic for Ahiram, lit. "brother of the lofty."
doggone: 1851, Amer.Eng., a "fantastic perversion of god-damned" [Weekley]. But Mencken favors the theory that it is "a blend form of dog on it; in fact it is still often used with it following. It is thus a brother to the old English phrase, 'a pox upon it,' but is considerably more decorous."
keeper: c.1300 (late 13c. as a surname), "one who has charge of some person or thing, warden," agent noun from keep (v.). Sense of "one who carries on some business" is from mid-15c. Sporting sense (originally cricket) is from 1744. Meaning “something (or someone) worth keeping” is attested by 1999. Brother’s keeper is from Genesis iv:9.
Guggenheim: grant for advanced study, in reference to the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, established 1925 by U.S. Sen. Simon Guggenheim (1867-1941) in memory of his son, who died young. The senator's brother was an arts patron who founded the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1937, which grew into the Guggenheim Museum of modern art.
bub: familiar address for males, 1839, perhaps a variation of bud "a little boy" (1848), Amer.Eng. colloquial; perhaps from Ger. bube "boy," or from Eng. brother.
Aaron: masc. proper name, in the Old Testament the brother of Moses, from Hebrew Aharon, probably of Egyptian origin. The Arabic form is Harun. Aaron's beard as a type of herb is from 1540s.
Menelaeus: king of Sparta, husband of Helen, brother of Agamemnon, Latinized form of Gk. Menelaos, lit. "restraining the people," from menein "to stay, abide, remain" + laos "people" (see lay (adj.)).
stepbrother: mid-15c., from step- + brother.
compere: 1738, from Fr. compère "a godfather," from O.Fr. compere (13c., from M.L. compater) "godfather," also a friendly greeting, "friend, brother," hence "fellow, familiar, intimate."
Jamesian: "of or in the mode of James," 1875 in reference to William James (1842-1910) U.S. philosopher and exponent of pragmatism; 1905 in reference to his brother Henry James (1843-1916), U.S. expatriate novelist.
Alastor: in Greek tradition, son of Neleus, brother of Nestor, slain by Herakles. The name is perhaps lit. "not to forget," from privative prefix a- "not" + root of lathein "to forget" (see Lethe), hence its use figuratively in sense of "an avenging spirit." Or else it might be connected with alaomai "to wander, roam," figuratively "to be distraught."
Pollux: twin brother of Castor, name of the second star of Gemini, 1520s, from Latin, from Gk. Polydeukes, lit. "very sweet," from polys "much" (see poly-) + deukes "sweet." The contraction of the name in Latin is perhaps via Etruscan.
monsieur: 1510s, from Fr., from mon sieur "my lord," from sieur "lord," shortened form of seigneur (see monseigneur) It was the historical title for the second son or next younger brother of the king of France.
Adelphia: district of London, so called because it was laid out by four brothers of a family named Adam, from Gk. adelphos "brother," lit. "from the same womb," from copulative prefix a- "together with" + delphys "womb," perhaps related to dolphin (q.v.). The district was the site of a popular theater c.1882-1900, which gave its name to a style of performance.
half-: "sharing one parent," from half. Half-brother is attested from early 14c.; half-sister from c.1200.
brotherly (adj.): O.E. broðorlic; see brother + -ly (1).
in-law: 1894, "anyone of a relationship not natural," abstracted from father-in-law, etc.
The position of the 'in-laws' (a happy phrase which is attributed ... to her Majesty, than whom no one can be better acquainted with the article) is often not very apt to promote happiness. ["Blackwood's Magazine," 1894]
The earliest recorded use of the phrase is in brother-in-law (13c.); the law is Canon Law, which defines degrees of relationship within which marriage is prohibited.
cenobite: also coenobite, "member of a communal religious order," 1630s, from Church L. coenobita "a cloister brother," from coenobium "a convent," from Gk. koinobion "life in community, monastery," from koinos "common" + bios "life" (see bio-).
cockatoo: 1610s, from Du. kaketoe, from Malay kakatua, possibly echoic, or from kakak "elder brother or sister" + tua "old." Also cockatiel (1880), from Du. dim. kaketielje (1850), which is perhaps influenced by Portuguese. Spelling influenced by cock (1).
Pluto: Roman god of the underworld, brother of Zeus and Neptune, from L. Pluto, from Gk. Plouton "god of wealth," lit. "wealth, riches," probably originally "overflowing," from PIE *pleu- "to flow" (see pluvial). The planet (since downgraded) was discovered 1930 by C.W. Tombaugh; Minerva also was suggested as a name for it. The cartoon dog first appeared in Walt Disney's "Moose Hunt," released April 1931.
grog: alcoholic drink diluted with water, 1749, supposedly an allusion to Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral who wore a grogram (q.v.) cloak and who in August 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be diluted. George Washington's older half-brother Lawrence served under Vernon in the Carribean and renamed the family's Hunting Creek Plantation in Virginia for him in 1740, calling it Mount Vernon.
buddy: 1850, Amer.Eng., possibly an alteration of brother, or from British colloquial butty "companion" (1802), itself perhaps a variant of booty in booty fellow "confederate who shares plunder" (1520s). But butty, meaning "work-mate," also was a localized dialect word in England and Wales, attested since 18c., and long associated with coal miners. Short form bud is attested from 1851.
brotherhood: equivalent of O.E. broþerrede "fellowship, brotherhood," with ending as in kindred; in early Middle English the word was brotherhede with ending as in maidenhead. The modern word, with -hood, is from 15c. Originally "relationship of a brother," also "friendly companionship." Concrete sense of "an association, a fraternity" is from mid-14c. in the Middle English word (later also "labor union," 1880s). O.E. also had broðorscipe "brothership," broðorsibb "kinship of brothers."
titan: early 15c., from L. Titan, from Gk. Titan, member of a mythological race of giants who attempted to scale heaven by piling Mount Pelion on Mount Ossa but were overthrown by Zeus and the gods. They descended from Titan, elder brother of Kronos. Perhaps from tito "sun, day," which is probably a loan-word from a language of Asia Minor. Sense of "person or thing of enormous size" first recorded 1828. Applied to planet Saturn's largest satellite in 1868; it was discovered 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who named it Saturni Luna "moon of Saturn."