big brothern.
/ˌbɪɡ ˈbrʌðə/, U.S. /ˈˌbɪɡ ˈbrəðər/ 1. An elder brother. Cf. big adj. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > brother > [noun] > elder brother
big brother1809
dada1879
aiya1913
kuya1937
oppa1963
1809 Lash 36 Thy big brother shake the fateful dice, And stand the very finger-post of vice.
1821 Christian Jrnl. & Lit. Reg. Apr. 115/1 My father send me with my big brother to the headman of the country.
1863 Harper's Mag. Apr. 693/1 In a modern story, a big brother would have kicked the noble lord out of the front door.
1873 J. H. H. St. John Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands viii. 149 Little mud volcanoes..aped the customs of their big brothers, and blobbed out their stenches with as much complacency as Tongariro.
1935 Amer. Mercury Feb. 189/2 One night I..decided to talk like a big brother to Tatty.
1967 K. Tennant Tell Morning This (1968) xvii. 139 When my big brother Jim come home from work, he went Dad scone hot.
2002 L. Purves Radio (2003) i. 8 My father was still in Angola at the time, and my big brother at boarding school.
2.
a. Also with capital initials. A person, state, etc., resembling an elder brother, esp. in having a position of authority or care, or a protective role, with respect to others.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > protector or patron
fathereOE
mundOE
governor1340
protectorc1390
feedera1400
patronc1400
taker-upa1425
fautora1464
provisora1475
vower1488
presidenta1522
parent1526
guardiant1618
big brother1837
avoué1851
fanger-
1837 Hist. Rec. Victoria II. i. 259 He was then on the road to the Mission Station with two aboriginal children, about whom ‘Big Brother’ [sc. the government missioner] had written to him.
1852 Christian Reformer Mar. 152 The big brother of the Establishment may be encouraged or allowed to browbeat the little brother of Dissent.
1906 E. Goldman tr. M. Baginski Aim & Tactics of Trade-Union Movement in P. Glassgold Anarchy! (2001) 300 If Sister Labor had a grievance against its big brother it ought to be settled in a calm and peaceful way. Meanwhile the dear sister was fleeced and bled by Brother Capital.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. 478 Big Brother up there, Mr President, you hear what I done just been saying to you.
1937 H. G. Wells Star Begotten v. 84 If there is such a thing as a Martian..he's humanity's big brother.
1937 H. G. Wells Star Begotten viii. 157 Out of these cravings come all these impulses towards slavish subjection to Gods, Kings, leaders, heroes, bosses, mystical personifications like the People, My Country Right or Wrong, the Church, the Party, the Masses, the Proletariat. Our imaginations hang on to some such Big Brother idea almost to the end.
1941 J. S. M. Simpson S. Afr. Fights 76 Whatever happens, South Africa will be the ‘big brother’ to all the British states, from the wide-flowing Limpopo to the brack waters of Lake Rudolph.
2002 U.S. News & World Rep. 22 Apr. 46/2 Ideally, the companies would like to find a big brother—an oil giant, an insurance firm, or a financial institution—with which to form a joint venture.
b. Something which is superior in size, importance, sophistication, etc., to another of its kind.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > of more importance
greatera1425
big brother1860
the half of it1932
1860 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 7 Apr. 11/3 The kettle-drums being reinforced by their ‘big brother’, the bass drum.
1911 Polit. Sci. Q. 26 164 In the United States, the telephone has grown to be the big brother of the telegraph.
1967 Technol. Week 23 Jan. 11/1 (advt.) Sigma 5... It is multi-use, like its big brother Sigma 7.
1994 Equinox June 108/1 The Trek's big brother is the Super Geo Scope, fully waterproofed and retailing for $45 to $50.
2005 Austral. Financial Rev. 12 Aug. (Life & Leisure section) 6/1 Long in the shadow of its big brother Dublin to the north,..Cork is using this opportunity to put itself on the map of Europe.
c. [After the name given to the head of state in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-four (see quots. 19491, 19492).] Usually with capital initials. A political or administrative authority, esp. the State, exercising strict supervision of and total control over people's lives; (hence) the agencies, institutions, etc., used by such an authority to monitor and control people's behaviour.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > [noun] > a benevolent but omnipotent government
big brother1951
1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-four i. 5 On each landing..the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall... Big Brother is watching you, the caption beneath it ran.
1949 ‘G. Orwell’ Nineteen Eighty-four ii. 209 One could infer..the general structure of Oceanic society. At the apex of the pyramid comes Big Brother. Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful... Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen.]
1951 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 45 693 It is better..than Communistic neo-politics, which is a pushing of all who will not be pulled by the idea of classlessness, involving a lethal kick now and then from Big Brother to all the deviant little brothers.
1953 Economist 12 Sept. 683/1 The distrust of the concierge who is also a police spy, of the admirable focusing device which the big block provides for the watchful eye of Big Brother.
1966 Public Opinion Q. 30 462 Youth's need to have mass media express ideals of social responsibility,..and opposition to ‘Big Brother’.
1977 Drum (Johannesburg) Oct. 20 There is no furtive looking over the shoulder to see if big brother from the Immorality Squad is following.
1988 D. Ing Chernobyl Syndrome 7 Soviet citizens know better than to tell tales on their government while Big Brother is listening.
1995 Mother Jones June 30/2 Many leftists I know pooh-pooh neighborhood watch programs because they smack of Big Brother, involve cooperation with the police, and don't do anything about poverty and racism.
2002 J. Goad Shit Magnet viii. 113 Looks like Big Brother's trying to turn my words into crimes.
3. With capital initials.
a. North American. A man who volunteers to serve as a mentor and role model for a (troubled or disadvantaged) boy.
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1906 N.Y. Observer 8 Nov. 589/3 I quote verbatim the speech of the president of the Boys' Club of the Central Presbyterian Church, at a dinner given to the boys by their Big Brothers.
1909 Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times 19 Apr. 11/4 The Big Brother got the boy a job and he is doing well.
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 102/2 (advt.) Big Brothers sat in stuffy court rooms to rescue waifs and strays.
2008 University Wire (Nexis) 28 Feb. Off campus, Evans works as a ‘Big Brother’ in the D.C. public schools.
b. Australian. A member of the Big Brother Movement appointed to act as a guardian and adviser to a young British or Irish immigrant. Now historical.
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1925 Times 24 Oct. 9/5 Mr. Linton had conceived the idea of providing ‘Big Brothers’ for boys who were emigrating to Australia.
1939 J. T. McMahon Bushies' Scheme in W. Austral. 37 The ‘Big Brother’ assumes a paternal interest in some immigrant boy, promising to care for him when out of employment, and to guard him while in it.
1959 E. Webb Mark of Sun 101 Big Brothers are Australian men who promise to keep an eye on us, and help any way they can.
2001 T. Dingle in A. Markus Building New Community i. 17 Victorian men enrolled as Big Brothers, taking on the role of moral guardian and adviser to a British or Irish boy until he reached 21.
Compounds
Big Brother Movement n. (a) North American (with lower-case initial in the third element) a volunteer movement providing adult mentors to (troubled or disadvantaged) boys (cf. sense 3a); (b) Australian a voluntary organization founded in 1925 to provide care and advice for British and Irish youths emigrating to Australia.The Australian organization ceased to be involved in immigration in 1983; now more commonly known as BBM, it works to support young Australians in a variety of ways.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > furnishing with inhabitants > colonizing > [noun] > movement to assist
Big Brother Movement1906
1906 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. 18/2 It was this club which organized the ‘Big Brother’ movement, whereby each member looks after a boy who has been arraigned in the Children's Court.
1925 Youth (Big Brother Movement) 2 The Big Brother Movement is founded upon the belief that the outstanding need of Australia is more population.
1958 Oxf. Mail 14 Aug. 3/1 The Big Brother movement—a voluntary organisation founded in 1925 to assist the settlement of British boys in Australia.
1988 Toronto Star (Nexis) 21 Sept. a6 The Big Brother movement in Metro is drastically short of recruits. Only 45 men have responded to the September drive for new members.
2006 Canberra Times (Nexis) 30 Nov. In the evening, the Governor-General, as Patron of BBM Ltd, and Mrs Jeffery, hosted a reception for members of the Big Brother Movement.
Derivatives
ˌbig ˈbrotherdom n. (also with capital initials) control over or intrusion into people's lives by political or administrative authorities, esp. the State.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > paternalism > [noun]
paternalism1843
Big Brotherism1950
big brotherdom1964
1964 Punch 7 Oct. 547/2 The growth of Big Brotherdom.
2003 C. Macrae in N. Ind Beyond Branding vi. 92 Civilization's social fabric may have rotted beyond repair into everyday terror or big brotherdom in every locality.
ˌbig ˈbrotherish adj. (a) characteristic of an older brother; (b) (usually with capital initials) of or relating to control over or intrusion into people's lives by political or administrative authorities, esp. the State.
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1889 Washington Post 1 May 3/1 Sometimes he fetches it up in his arms, tenderly and in a big-brotherish manner, and sometimes he yanks it up by the tail.
1956 Times 10 Feb. 9 It seems unfair and slightly Big-Brotherish.
1990 Guardian (Nexis) 21 July It was a big brotherish feeling. He used to have a couple of wee sisters.
2003 R. Dawkins Devil's Chaplain (2004) i. iv. 32 The idea of a nationwide [DNA] database..is now being discussed... I don't see this as a sinister, Big Brotherish idea.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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