Oddfellows

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Members of a historic fraternal benefit society that provided mutual aid, charity and social fellowship to its members
2. A name for the men belonging to a nineteenth-century friendly society devoted to brotherhood, welfare and community support
3. Men who joined a traditional fraternal organization offering sick pay, burial funds and companionship among its members

Etymology: The plural "oddfellows" is the form of "oddfellow," a compound of "odd" and "fellow." In the sense that matters here, "odd" meant something like "left over" or "unmatched," as in an odd sock or an odd number, so an oddfellow was originally a man who did not fit neatly into an ordinary group or pair. The name is best known today for the Independent Order of Oddfellows, a friendly society, meaning a mutual-aid organisation in which members paid into a common fund that supported them in sickness, old age, and the burial of their dead. Its members took the title "Oddfellows," and the plural is the name of that organisation and its lodges. The name thus moved from a loose description of an unusual person to a formal label for a society of working men who pooled their money.

Synonyms: eccentrics, misfits