Brother vs Boss - What's the difference?
brother | boss |
Son of the same parents as another person.
* , chapter=10
, title= A male having at least one parent in common with another (see half-brother, stepbrother).
A male fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc.
* The Bible, Deuteronomy 23:19 (NKJV)
(African American Vernacular English) A black male.
* 2013 , Gwyneth Bolton, Ready for Love
Someone who is a peer, whether male or female.
*
To treat as a brother.
* 1819 , Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
* Seest thou not we are overreached, and that our proposed mode of communicating with our friends without has been disconcerted by this same motley gentleman thou art so fond to brother ?
A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
(geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
(mechanics) A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
(architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
(archery) the target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.
A head or reservoir of water.
To decorate with bosses; to emboss.
(obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
* 1916 , , Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, 36:
A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
A person in charge of a business or company.
A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
The head of a political party in a given region or district.
(informal) A term of address to a man.
(video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
(humorous) Wife.
To exercise authoritative control over; to lord over; to boss around; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.
* 1931 , Robert L. May, Rudolph'', ''The Red-Nosed Reindeer , Montgomery Ward (publisher):
* 1932 , Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child , page 76
* 1967 , Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight , page 90
* 1980 , Jean Toomer The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer , page 40
(slang, American, Liverpool) Of excellent quality, first-rate.
As nouns the difference between brother and boss
is that brother is title of respect for an adult male member of a religious or fraternal order while boss is boss (person in charge, supervisor).brother
English
Alternative forms
* brotha (Jamaican English)Noun
(en-noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers .}}
- You shall not charge interest to your brother —interest on money or'' food ''or anything that is lent out at interest.
- But damn if they knew when to just leave a brother alone and let him sulk in silence.
- And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind. Weak or strong, clever or simple, we are all brothers .
Usage notes
The plural “brethren” is not used for biological brothers in contemporary English (although it was in older usage). It is, however, still very common when meaning “members of a religious order”. It is also sometimes used in other figurative senses, e.g. “adherents of the same religion”, “countrymen”, and the like.Coordinate terms
* (with regards to gender) sisterHypernyms
* (son of common parents) siblingDerived terms
(Terms derived from the noun "brother") * big brother/Big Brother * blood brother * bro * brother german * brother-in-arms * brother-in-law * Brother Jonathan * brothered * brotherhood * brotherlike * brotherly * bruv * bruvver * Christian Brother * co-brother * cousin brother/cousin-brother * everyone and their brother/everybody and their brother * foster brother/foster-brother * half brother/half-brother * lay brother * little brother * milk brother * soul brother * stepbrother/step-brother * uterine brother * Xaverian BrotherDescendants
* Bahamian Creole: (l) * Belize Kriol English: (l) * Bislama: (l) * Cameroon Pidgin: * Gullah: (l) * Islander Creole English: (l) * Krio: (l) * Nicaraguan Creole: (l) * Nigerian Pidgin: (l) * Pichinglis: * Pijin: (l) * Portuguese: * Saramaccan: * Tok Pisin: (l), (l)Verb
(en verb)boss
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) bos, bose, boce, from (etyl) .Noun
(es)- (Gwilt)
Derived terms
* bossless * bosslike * embossVerb
(es)Etymology 2
Apparently a corruption of (bass).Noun
(es)- All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss .
Synonyms
* (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassockEtymology 3
From (etyl) baas, from (etyl) . Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative, later, in , it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master.Noun
(es)- Chat turned to whisper when the boss entered the conference room.
- My boss complains that I'm always late to work.
- They named him boss because he had good leadership skills.
- He is the Republican boss in Kentucky.
- Yes, boss .
- There's no olive oil, will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss .
Synonyms
* (person in charge of a business or company): employer * (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor * (leader of an organized group or team): head, leader * (head of a political party in a given region or district): leader * : gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK) * See alsoDerived terms
* boss battle * boss fight * miniboss * final boss * show someone who's boss * you're the bossVerb
(es)- By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.
- His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]
- She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]
- For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]
Derived terms
* boss about, boss aroundAdjective
(-)- ''Don't you think surfing's boss ?