sister
English · Français · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
sister¹
- /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/ UK
- /ˈsɪs.tɚ/ US
Sounds like cister, cyster · Rhymes with -ɪstə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English suster, from Old English sweostor, from Proto-West Germanic *swester, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.
Doublet of soror. Cognate with Scots sister, syster (“sister”), West Frisian sus, suster (“sister”), Dutch zuster (“sister”), German Schwester (“sister”), Norwegian Bokmål søster (“sister”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish syster (“sister”), Icelandic systir (“sister”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂 (swistar, “sister”), Latin soror (“sister”), Russian сестра́ (sestrá, “sister”), Lithuanian sesuo (“sister”), Albanian vajzë (“girl, maiden”), Sanskrit स्वसृ (svásṛ, “sister”), Persian خواهر (xâhar, “sister”).
In standard English, the form with i is due to contamination with Old Norse systir (“sister”).
The plural sistren is from Middle English sistren, a variant plural of sister, suster (“sister”); compare brethren.
The sense for "Adelpha-genus butterfly" is a semantic loan from translingual Adelpha, itself from Ancient Greek ἀδελφή (adelphḗ, “sister”).
noun sisters · sistren
- A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling. My sister is always driving me crazy.
-
A female member of a religious order; especially one devoted to more active service; (informal) a nun.
Michelle left behind her bank job and became a sister at the local convent.
Similar: nun
- Any butterfly in the genus Adelpha, so named for the resemblance of the dark-colored wings to the black habit traditionally worn by nuns.
-
A senior or supervisory nurse, often in a hospital.
Similar: charge nurse
- Any woman or girl with whom a bond is felt through the same biological sex, gender or common membership in a community, race, profession, religion, organization, or ism. Connie was very close to her friend Judy and considered her to be her sister.
- A black woman. A fly sister rolled in with a suitcase full of hip-hop novels called The Glamorous Life, and an African brother with long dreads wanted to sell them some incense and some fake Jacob watches.
- A form of address to a woman. What’s up, sister?
- A female fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc. Thank you, sister. I would like to thank the sister who just spoke.
-
An entity that has a special or affectionate, non-hierarchical relationship with another.
sister publication
Similar: affiliate, affiliated
- A node in a data structure that shares its parent with another node.
- Something in the same class. sister ships
- One of two tornados that form in close proximity at the same time or in quick succession.
verb sisters · sistering · sistered
- To strengthen (a supporting beam) by fastening a second beam alongside it. I’m trying to correct my sagging floor by sistering the joists.
- To be sister to; to resemble closely. Deep clerks she dumbs; and with her needle composes Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry, That even her art sisters the natural roses; Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry
Sister²
noun Sisters
- Title of respect for an adult female member of a religious order. At the convent, Sister Grace supervises the kitchen.
- Title of respect for an adult female member of a fraternal/sororal organization, or comrade in a movement, or even a stranger using fictive kin. Sister Huerta was to have been our initial speaker this morning. However, we received word later this morning that Sister Huerta would be unable to attend our convention.
- A title used to personify or respectfully refer to concepts or animals. Native American leader Chief Seattle urged ecological responsibility, referring to Brother Eagle and Sister Sky in his purported 1854 speech.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: brother, baby, fellow, related, sis, related to, sister-in-law, stepsister, sisterly, daughter, half-sister, niece, sibling, cousin, brotherly, fraternal
Translations
Every language
noun woman or girl having the same parents
| Español | hermana |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 자매 jamae, 누나 nuna, 언니 eonni, 여동생 yeodongsaeng, 동생 dongsaeng, 시스터 siseuteo |
| 日本語 | 姉妹 shimai, 姉 ane, お姉さん onēsan, 妹 imōto, シスター shisutā |
| 中文 | 姐姐 jiějie, 妹妹 mèimei, 姐妹 jiěmèi, 嬃 /媭 xū, 姊妹 zǐmèi |
| हिन्दी | बहन bahan, बहिन bahin, हमशीरा hamśīrā |
| Kiswahili | dada, umbu |
| Português | irmã |
| Français | sœur |
| Deutsch | Schwester |
| Italiano | sorella |
| Ελληνικά | αδελφή adelfí, αδερφή aderfí |
| Română | soră, surori |
| Русский | сестра́ sestrá, сестри́ца sestríca, сестри́чка sestríčka |
| Tiếng Việt | chị or chị gái, em gái, em |
| العربية | أُخْت ʔuḵt, شَقِيقَة šaqīqa |
| עברית | אָחוֹת akhót |
noun a nun; a female member of a religious community
| Español | hermana, sor |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 수녀 sunyeo |
| 日本語 | 修道女 shūdōjo, シスター shisutā |
| Português | irmã, soror |
| Français | sœur, nonne, religieuse, bonne sœur |
| Deutsch | Schwester, Nonne |
| Italiano | sorella, suora |
| Ελληνικά | αδελφή adelfí |
| Română | călugăriță |
| Русский | сестра́ sestrá |
| עברית | נְזירוֹת nzirót |
noun senior nurse
| Português | enfermeira |
|---|---|
| Français | infirmière |
| Deutsch | Schwester, Krankenschwester |
| Ελληνικά | αδελφή adelfí |
| Русский | медсестра́ medsestrá, сестра́ sestrá |
| עברית | נְזירוֹת nzirót |
noun any woman or girl with whom a bond is felt
| Español | hermana |
|---|---|
| Français | sœur |
| Deutsch | Schwester |
| Ελληνικά | αδελφή adelfí |
| Русский | сестра́ sestrá |
| العربية | أخت ʔuḵt |
| עברית | אָחוֹת akhót |
noun form of address to a woman
| Deutsch | Schwester |
|---|
noun attributively: of an entity that has a special relationship with another
| Español | hermano, hermana |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 姉妹〜 shimai- |
| Deutsch | Schwester-, Partner- |
| Ελληνικά | αδελφή adelfí |
| Tiếng Việt | chị em, (có) liên quan |
verb strengthen by fastening a second beam alongside
| Deutsch | aufdoppeln, verstärken |
|---|
Talk about this word "sister." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sister. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sister. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sister "sister." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sister.Cite this
@misc{sister_2026,
title = {sister},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sister},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
