sister

A1 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ˈsɪs.tɚ/ UK /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #458

Meanings

1

noun
a girl or woman who has the same parents as you

My sister is two years younger than me.
2

noun
a member of a religious community of women; a nun

Michelle left her job and became a sister at the local convent.
3

noun
a woman seen as part of the same group, cause, or community

None of my sisters in the union would betray me.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a girl or woman who has the... sis

2 noun · a member of a religious... nun

Word family

Forms sisterlysisters

Derived forms cisterco-sisterco-sister-in-lawcousin-sisterforesisterfull-sisterlawgodsisterhalf-sisterintersistermersistermilk-sisternonsister

Related forms sistrensororalsustahsuster

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

little sister
a younger female sibling (informal, affectionate)

Adjective + noun
older sister
a female sibling who is older than oneself

Adjective + noun
younger sister
a female sibling who is younger than oneself

Adjective + noun
twin sister
a female sibling born at the same birth

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

PIE word *swésōr From Middle English sister, suster, from Old English swustor, sweoster, sweostor (“sister, nun”); from Proto-Germanic *swestēr (“sister”), from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”). 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”), Alba…

sister Middle English swustor Old English *swestēr Proto-Germanic *swésōr Proto-Indo-European sistren Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships

External links

# sister

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɪs.tɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 458

## Meanings
1. a girl or woman who has the same parents as you
2. a member of a religious community of women; a nun
3. a woman seen as part of the same group, cause, or community

## Examples
- My sister is two years younger than me.
- Michelle left her job and became a sister at the local convent.
- None of my sisters in the union would betray me.

## Derived Forms
- cister
- co-sister
- co-sister-in-law
- cousin-sister
- foresister
- full-sisterlaw
- godsister
- half-sister
- intersister
- mersister
- milk-sister
- nonsister

## Related Forms
- sistren
- sororal
- sustah
- suster

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sister
- Root: swustor
- Root: *swestēr
- Root: *swésōr
- Root: sistren

## Etymology
PIE word *swésōr From Middle English sister, suster, from Old English swustor, sweoster, sweostor (“sister, nun”); from Proto-Germanic *swestēr (“sister”), from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”). 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”), Alba…

## AI Etymology
Sister: PIE word; swésōr From Middle English sister, suster, from Old English swustor, sweoster, sweostor (“sister, nun”); from Proto-Germanic *swestēr (“sister”), from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”). Doublet of soror. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English sister, Old English swustor, Proto-Germanic *swestēr, Proto-Indo-European *swésōr, Middle English sistren. In current use it includes senses such as a girl or woman who has the same parents as you and a member of a religious community of women; a nun.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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