![]() Men call each other brothers in arms ( brother in arms, in the singular) in a variety of formal and informal contexts other than war, though it always suggests a resolute, unquestioned, and valorous-styled support for one another. In military contexts, brothers in arms is often used of soldiers after their time of service. The expression may have expanded due to popular use for the many men who fought in World War I and World War II.ĭrawing upon the meaning it has for servicemen, some men refer to one another as brothers in arms to invoke the same kind of “ride-or-die” mentality that’s commonly present in soldiers. Though brothers in arms originated as a means to show the unique bond between those who serve together, by at least the 1980s it was being used for strong bonds between civilian men forged by some shared experience. In the phrase, arms is used explicitly in the sense of “weapons,” ultimately originating from the Latin arma, which variously refers to troops, war, and the tools of war. The phrase brothers in arms has been around since the 1480s for fellow soldiers and knights, perhaps modeled on the post-classical Latin frater in armis, a “brother in arms.” In the military, there’s historically been emphasis on the concept of fraternity and camaraderie among soldiers, and brothers in arms represents such a mentality. ![]()
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