rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryfraternizeFriendly association
verb

fraternize

FRAT-er-nyze/ˈfrætərnaɪz/

To associate socially, especially with people considered off-limits.

Employees fraternize with opposing team members over coffee despite their supervisor's disapproval.

Employees and opposing-team members mingle socially over coffee despite disapproving supervisor nearby.
Etymology
fraternLatinbrotherly
+izeEnglishact as

To fraternize was originally to sympathize as brothers. Its use for cultivating friendship with enemy troops helps explain the modern suggestion of being friendly with people one is expected to avoid.

In context

Deschutes Public Library54:50
it also evokes the punishment meted out by the IRA the 1970s to Irish women in their own tribe who fraternize with British soldiers
A Novel Idea: Literature, History & Memory in 20th-Century Ireland

More examples

  • The soldiers are forbidden to fraternize with enemy troops.
  • She enjoys fraternizing with other musicians after rehearsals.
  • Company rules discourage managers from fraternizing with employees they supervise.

Forms

fraternize · fraternizes · fraternized · fraternizing

fraternization noun — Social contact, especially with forbidden companions.

Similar words

socialize
Emphasizes spending time with others, without suggesting disapproval.
mingle
Suggests circulating among people at a social gathering.
consort
Usually implies associating with people regarded as disreputable.