Schwester

See also: schwester and Schwëster

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• Sester, Söster (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German swëster, from Old High German swester, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.

The native form, at least in western dialects, is Söster with swe- → sü- (compare Dutch zuster). The modern form is based on German Schwester.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃʋɛstʌ/

Noun

Schwester f (plural Schwestere, diminutive Schwesterche)

1. sister

   Meng Schwester es net ens e Johr aaler wie ich.

   My sister is less than a year older than me.

2. nun
3. nurse

German

Alternative forms

• Schw. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle High German swëster, from Old High German swester, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr.

Compare Low German swester, Dutch zuster, English sister, Danish søster, Swedish syster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃvɛstɐ/, [ˈʃʋɛstɐ]

• audio

  (file)

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛstɐ

Noun

Schwester f (genitive Schwester, plural Schwestern, diminutive Schwesterchen n or Schwesterlein n)

1. sister

   Meine Schwester kommt morgen.

   My sister is coming tomorrow.

2. (chiefly colloquial, short for Krankenschwester) nurse; by extension used to refer to any medical staff that is not a doctor (usually, but not necessarily, confined to female staff)
3. nurse; used as a title of address for nurses
4. (Christianity) sister; nun; used particularly, but not only, as a title of address

Declension

Declension of Schwester [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Schwester	die	Schwestern
genitive	einer	der	Schwester	der	Schwestern
dative	einer	der	Schwester	den	Schwestern
accusative	eine	die	Schwester	die	Schwestern

Derived terms

• Kinderschwester
• Krankenschwester
• Ordensschwester
• schwesterlich

Descendants

• → Silesian: šwestera

Further reading

• “Schwester” in Duden online
• “Schwester” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Schwester” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Schwester”, in , John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891