Why “confrerie” is a great word
CONFRERIE — [Noun] A brotherhood, fraternity, or association, especially one with a religious or charitable purpose. From French confrérie, from Old French confrerie, an alteration (influenced by frere, "brother") of confrarie, from Medieval Latin confrāria, from Latin con- ("with, together") + frāter ("brother"). Unlike a "guild," which binds for craft and commerce, or a "sorority," which specifies a sisterhood, a confrérie suggests a fraternal bond consecrated by solemn purpose rather than mere profession or gender. It is the murmured Latin in a dim chapel, the shared alms for a pauper's burial, and the weight of a ceremonial robe worn only on feast days—a secular echo of monastic community, sustaining the fragile idea that we are our brother's keeper.