Etymology

Possibly from the past participle of a Latin verb fratrāre (which did not survive in Romanian; however compare Aromanian nfãrtedz, nfãrtari and fãrtat), ultimately from frāter. Alternatively, it may based on a translation or adaptation of a neighboring Slavic language equivalent, such as Bulgarian побратим ‎(pobratim), Serbo-Croatian pobratim, using the Romanian word frate ‎(“brother”). See also surată.