Definition of: confraternity

(kon′frə·tûr′nə·tē) noun plural ·ties
1. An association, brotherhood, or society of men united for a common object or purpose, especially in some profession; any body or class of men.
2. Specifically, a religious association in the Roman Catholic Church, usually of laymen, for some devotional, charitable, or educational object: called archconfraternity when composed of affiliated bodies. [<Med. L confraternitas, -tatis <LL com- with + fraternitas brotherhood]