sister

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Synonyms 1.3.2 Antonyms 1.3.3 Hypernyms 1.3.4 Derived terms 1.3.5 Related terms 1.3.6 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.5 See also

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old English sweoster, from Proto-Germanic *swistr-, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.

Germanic cognates: Old Frisian swester, Old Saxon swestar (Dutch zuster), Old High German swester (German Schwester), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂.

Indo-European cognates: Latin soror, Old Irish siur (Welsh chwaer), Old Church Slavonic сестра (Russian сестра), Lithuanian sesuõ.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈsɪstə/, SAMPA: /"sIst@/
• (US) enPR: sĭs'tər, IPA: /ˈsɪstɚ/, SAMPA: /"sIst@`/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɪstə(r)

[edit] Noun

sister (plural sisters or (archaic) sistren)

1. a daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling.

   My little sister is an annoying pest.

2. a female member of a religious community; a nun.
3. (British) a senior or supervisory nurse, often in a hospital.
4. any woman or girl with whom a bond is felt through common membership of a race, profession, religion or organization, such as feminism.

   Connie was very close to her friend Judy and considered her to be her sister.

   • 1985, Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin, Who’s Zoomin' Who?:

     [song title] Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves

5. (slang) a black woman
6. (informal) a form of address to a woman
   • What’s up, sister?
7. (attributively) Of or relating to an entity that has a special or affectionate relationship with another

   sister publication

   sister city

[edit] Synonyms

• (woman or girl with the same parents): (slang) sis
• (member of religious community): nun
• (supervisory nurse): charge nurse (the male equivalent)
• (informal: form of address to a woman): darling, dear, (US) lady, love, miss, (northern UK) pet

[edit] Antonyms

• (with regards to gender) brother

[edit] Hypernyms

• (daughter of common parents): sibling

[edit] Derived terms

• half-sister
• sister city
• sisterhood
• sister-in-law
• sisterly
• sister ship
• stepsister

[edit] Related terms

• sororal

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to sister (third-person singular simple present sisters, present participle sistering, simple past and past participle sistered)

1. (transitive, construction) To strengthen (a supporting beam) by fastening a second beam alongside it.

   I’m trying to correct my sagging floor by sistering the joists.

[edit] See also

• Sister (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Sister (disambiguation)

• sister in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.