Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » sister

sister

Listen See in Thesaurus See in a sentence

Your sister is another girl who is born to the same parents to whom you are born.

(noun)

An example of sister is a girl who is born to your parents a year after you are born.

See sister in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

a woman or girl as she is related to the other children of her parents: sometimes also used of animals
a woman or girl related to one by having a parent in common; half sister
a stepsister
a foster sister
a close female friend who is like a sister
a female fellow member of the same race, church, profession, organization, etc.: sorority sister, soul sister
a member of a female religious community, usually one with simple vows
something associated with another of the same kind, model, etc.
Brit. a nurse, esp. a head nurse
Informal any woman: often used as a familiar term of address

Origin: ME < ON systir (akin to OE sweoster > dial. suster), akin to Ger schwester < IE *swesor-, sister (> Sans svasar, L soror, OIr siur) < *sewe-, (one's) own, refl. pron. (see suicide) + *sor-, woman: hence, lit., woman of our (family)

adjective

related or seeming to be related as sisters

See sister in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another.
A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically:
a. A kinswoman.
b. A woman fellow member, as of a sorority.
c. A fellow woman.
d. A close woman friend or companion.
e. A fellow African-American woman or girl.
f. A woman who advocates, fosters, or takes part in the feminist movement.
Informal Used as a form of address for a woman or girl.
Abbr. Sr. Ecclesiastical
a. A member of a religious order of women; a nun.
b. Used as a form of address for such a woman, alone or followed by the woman's name.
Chiefly British A nurse, especially the head nurse in a ward.
One identified as female and closely related to another: “the sisters Death and Night” (Walt Whitman).