BRETHREN

brethren

brethren (breth-r[schwa]n), n. pl. Brothers, esp. those considered spiritual kin (such as male colleagues on a court) (my brethren argue in the dissent that my statutory interpretation is faulty). • The use of this collegial term has naturally dwindled as more women have entered law and esp. into the judiciary. Cf. SISTREN.

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brethren

brethren n. (复)(无血缘关系的)兄弟 其含义不如brothers广泛,只限于无血缘关系的情形,而brothers还包括有血缘关系的情形。该词现仅用于宗教和法律领域。在宗教领域,亦称教友,是指同教派或修会成员间的互称。在法律领域,美国法院认为该词在用于遗嘱中时,既指男性也指女性,但多数人不同意将其视作中性词。由于该词存在着对女性的性别歧视,所以在美国似乎未被普遍使用,而且与之相对应的sistren一词亦未被接受。sistren曾是sister的复数形式,现在主要用于方言之中。

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