Fraternize – To make friends with enemy

(Pronounced frat-er-nyze)

To remember the definition of the word fraternize, use the following mnemonic:

The fat rat turned her eyes, (fraternize) should she make friends with her enemy. 

Note: Fraternize does not just mean making friends with the enemy, it can be forming a relationship with anyone with whom you should not be associating with for a whole variety of reasons such as class, rank, religion and political differences. 

Examples of fraternize in a sentence

They were surprised that the two rivals fraternized and bought each other rounds in the pub.

When the war ended, soldiers who were once enemies began to fraternize like the best of friends. 

The teacher was warned against trying to fraternize with students.