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单词 sister
释义

sistern.

Brit. /ˈsɪstə/, U.S. /ˈsɪstər/
Inflections: Plural sisters, (in specific senses) sistren Brit. /ˈsɪstr(ᵻ)n/, U.S. /ˈsɪst(ə)rən/.
Forms: 1. Singular.

α. early Old English swiostor, early Old English swistær (dative), early Old English swostor, Old English soester (Northumbrian), Old English suoester (Northumbrian), Old English swæstar (rare), Old English sweostar (rare), Old English sweoster, Old English sweostor, Old English swestar (rare), Old English swester, Old English swister (dative, rare), Old English swistor (rare), Old English swoester (Northumbrian), Old English swustær (dative, rare), Old English swustor, Old English swustur, Old English swystar (rare), Old English swyster, Old English swystor, Old English–early Middle English swuster, late Old English swystær, late Middle English swistlr (dative, in copy of Old English charter). eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 658 Hæfde hine Penda adrifenne.., forþon he his swostor [lOE Laud swustor] anforlet.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 888 Ęþelswiþ cuen, sio wæs Ęlfredes sweostor cyninges.eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 918 Þa gefor Æþelflæd his swystar æt Tameworþige.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke x. 40 Soror mea reliquit me solam ministrare : soester min forleort mec ana geembehta.OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xii. 13 Sege nu, ic ðe bidde, þæt ðu min swuster sy.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1048 Se cyng..betæhte hy his swyster to Hwerwillon.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xxviii. 69 Gyf hwylc swuster oftlice ȝeþread for hwylcum ȝilte byð.c1425 ( Will of Bishop Ælfsige (Sawyer 1491) in S. Miller Charters of New Minster, Winchester (2001) 82 Siþþan minre swistlr [perhaps read swister] and minum magcnafan.

β. Old English sustro (dative, transmission error), Old English–1700s suster, early Middle English suste (transmission error), Middle English scustur, Middle English souster, Middle English susstre, Middle English sustere, Middle English sustrer, Middle English–1500s sustir, Middle English–1500s sustre, Middle English–1500s sustur, Middle English–1500s sustyr, late Middle English sustire (in a late copy); Scottish pre-1700 1900s– suster. OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 113 Soror, suster.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 604 Þær wes se cing gehaten Sæberht, Ricolan sunu Æðelberhtes suster.?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1140 Eustace..nam þe kinges suster of France to wife.c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 22 Mi þridde suster meað spekeð of þe middel sti bituhhe riht & luft.a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2643 Þat worþi mayden þat was williams suster.a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 3892 Thei love as vel as doth sustir & brothir.1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 244 The young manne with a tryce reuersed the suspicion to the mother of Cæsar, or els to his sustur.1612 B. Jonson Alchemist iii. iv. sig. H Gods will, my Suster shall see him.1762 J. Hall-Stevenson Crazy Tales 79 The eldest Suster spoke.1931 in Sc. National Dict. (1971) VIII. 330/3 [Argyll] He nuvver did a han's turn for years, a useless slemmer that leeved aa his life aff his suster.2000 E. Morgan tr. J. Racine Phaedra ii. v. 35 Ma suster wid've gien ye the lang threid Tae threid an tae rethreid the maze o dreid.

γ. Middle English soster, Middle English sostiyr, Middle English sostyr, Middle English zoster (south-eastern); Scottish pre-1700 soster. a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 38 Imette wid is soster, þe swikele wimon.1340 Ayenbite (1866) 89 He is my broþer and my zoster and my moder.a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1913) II. l. 14544 There many a lady was husbondles, and many a sostyr brothirles.1568 in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) III. 285 I am contentit..to tochir the said Laird of Grant witht my said soster.

δ. Middle English cister, Middle English cistir, Middle English cyster, Middle English cystire, Middle English cystyr, Middle English scyster, Middle English sistere, Middle English sistir, Middle English sistire, Middle English sistre, Middle English sisture, Middle English sistyr, Middle English syister, Middle English systir, Middle English systire, Middle English systure, Middle English–1500s sester, Middle English–1500s sistur, Middle English–1500s systere, Middle English–1500s systre, Middle English–1500s systur, Middle English–1500s systyr, Middle English–1600s syster, Middle English– sister, 1500s sistar, 1500s systar, 1700s–1800s zister (English regional (south-western) and Irish English (Wexford)), 1800s– sista (nonstandard (chiefly U.S. regional (in African-American usage) and Caribbean)), 1900s– sistah (nonstandard (chiefly U.S. regional (in African-American usage) and Caribbean)); Scottish pre-1700 cister, pre-1700 cistere, pre-1700 cistir, pre-1700 cystire, pre-1700 scister, pre-1700 scistir, pre-1700 seister, pre-1700 serster, pre-1700 sester, pre-1700 sistar, pre-1700 sistir, pre-1700 sistire, pre-1700 sistyr, pre-1700 systar, pre-1700 syster, pre-1700 systir, pre-1700 systyr, pre-1700 systyre, pre-1700 1700s– sister. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3855 Ðor was moyses sister dead.1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 51 He wes cummyn off ye offspryng Off hyr yat eldest syster was.1535 T. Starkey Let. in Eng. in Reign Henry VIII (1878) i. p. xx The weyght of such maryage betwyx brother & systur.1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 423 Prince Maurice, and his Sister, who was marryed to Count Hohenlo.a1771 T. Gray Agrippina in Poems (1775) 132 Daughter, sister, wife, And mother of their Cæsars.1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold v. ii. 153 There was more than sister in my kiss, And so the saints were wroth.1940 R. Wright Native Son iii. 255 Ahmen 'n' Gawd bless yuh, Sistah Thomas.2006 I. Rankin Naming of Dead i. 5 Brother and sister looked like their mother.

2. Plural.

α. early Old English swostur, Old English soestra (Northumbrian), Old English suoester (Northumbrian), Old English suoestro (Northumbrian), Old English swæster (Mercian), Old English sweostar (rare), Old English sweoster, Old English sweostor, Old English sweostra, Old English swester (Anglian), Old English swestro (Northumbrian), Old English swustru, Old English–early Middle English swustra, late Old English–early Middle English swustre, late Old English–Middle English sustre, late Old English 1500s (1600s Scottish) suster, early Middle English sweostrun (dative, in copy of Old English charter), early Middle English swystra, Middle English sister (in a late copy), Middle English sistere, Middle English syster (in a late copy). eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 718 Hiera swostur wærun Cuenburg & Cuþburh.OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xiii. 56 Sorores eius : suoester his [OE Rushw. Gospels swæster his].OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark vi. 3 Nonne et sorores eius hic nobiscum sunt : ahne & suoestro [OE West Saxon Gospels: Corpus Cambr. swustra, c1200 Hatton swustre] his her mið usic sint?OE Lacnunga (2001) I. cliii. 106 Neogone wæran Noðþæs sweoster.a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xlvi. 99 Beon ȝesette an odðe twa ealde swustre, wise an[d] ripe. ▸ ?a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 5006 O ye Parchas, froward sustre thre, Which off Ioue keepe the librarie.?1562 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages Diocese Chester (1897) 65 One of my suster is maried alreadie.1613 in A. Macdonald & J. Dennistoun Misc. Maitland Club (1842) III. 30 The eldest of the suster of McClayne.

β. early Middle English sustran, early Middle English swustren, Middle English sisterin, Middle English sisterun, Middle English sisteryn, Middle English sistoryn, Middle English sistrin, Middle English sistryn, Middle English soosteren, Middle English sosterne, Middle English sostren, Middle English sostrene, Middle English susteren, Middle English susteryn, Middle English sustirn, Middle English sustren, Middle English sustrene, Middle English sustrin, Middle English sustreon, Middle English sustron, Middle English sustryn, Middle English sustryne, Middle English sustyrn, Middle English sustyrne, Middle English systryn, Middle English systyrn, Middle English zostren (south-eastern), Middle English–1500s sistrene, Middle English–1500s sustern, Middle English–1500s susterne, Middle English–1500s systeren, Middle English–1500s systern, Middle English–1500s systerne, Middle English–1500s systeryn, Middle English–1500s systren, Middle English–1500s (1800s archaic) sisteren, Middle English–1600s sisterne, Middle English–1600s 1800s– sistren (now chiefly in senses 4 and 8), 1500s systeringe, 1500s–1600s 1800s– sistern (now chiefly in sense 8); also U.S. regional 1800s sisteren, 1800s sisterin, 1800s sisturn, 1800s– sistern. c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Hatton) iii. 35 Se is min moder & min broðer & mine swustren [OE Corpus Cambr. swustor].a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 157 He iseh Martham and Mariam Magdalene þe sustren wepe for hore broðer deð.c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 265 Nou broþren and zostren y-hyreþ my red.a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 2077 Hurre sustron weptone.1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 30 b You have other parentes, other brethren, sisterne, and nephewes.c1613 (a1525) in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 202 I recommend me to you,..and to all my brethren and sistren.a1849 H. Coleridge Ess. & Marginalia (1851) I. 375 We united brethren and sisteren of the three kingdoms.1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Sistern, for sisters. A vulgar pronunciation sometimes heard from uneducated preachers at the West.1939 T. T. Flynn in O. Penzler Black Lizard Big Bk. Pulps (2007) 1105/1 The brethren and sistern were scattering.2000 D. Adebayo My Once upon Time (2001) iii. 30 I would introduce myself to a few reasonable-looking sistren.

γ. early Middle English susstress ( Ormulum), Middle English cisters, Middle English cistirs, Middle English sisteres, Middle English sisteris, Middle English sisterres, Middle English sistires, Middle English sistirs, Middle English sistreȝ, Middle English sistris, Middle English sistrus, Middle English sisturres, Middle English sistyrs, Middle English sosterys, Middle English sostres, Middle English susteres, Middle English susteris, Middle English susterus, Middle English susterys, Middle English sustris, Middle English sustriz, Middle English sustrys, Middle English systeris, Middle English systerus, Middle English systurs, Middle English systyrrys, Middle English systyrs, Middle English–1500s sisturs, Middle English–1500s sustirs, Middle English–1500s sustres, Middle English–1500s systeres, Middle English–1500s systres, Middle English–1600s sistres, Middle English–1600s susters, Middle English–1600s systers, Middle English– sisters, 1500s seysteres, 1800s– sistahs (nonstandard (chiefly U.S. regional (in African-American usage) and Caribbean)), 1900s– sistas (nonstandard (chiefly U.S. regional (in African-American usage) and Caribbean)); Scottish pre-1700 cisteris, pre-1700 schisteris, pre-1700 scisteris, pre-1700 sistarres, pre-1700 sisteres, pre-1700 sisteris, pre-1700 sistiris, pre-1700 sistirs, pre-1700 sistris, pre-1700 systeris, pre-1700 systirres, pre-1700 systris, pre-1700 systyris, pre-1700 1700s– sisters. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6382 Þa susstress..Werenn labaness dohhtress.1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 58 Be ye sent of alle ye breyeren and systers..to haue yre mornspeches be ye ȝere.?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 192 Þei taken hire doughtres & hire sustres to here wyfes.1592 T. Lodge Euphues Shadow (Hunterian Club) 79 The insupportable trauailes of the sisters.1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 579 The inheritance became divided among the sisters of the said Iohn Tiptoft.1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xxiii. 234 I really think his sisters are too acquiescent.1879 Scribner's Monthly Apr. 918/1 I sees some sistahs pruzint, mighty proud o' whut dey wearin'.1967 A. Burgess in Hudson Rev. 20 104 All the Bennet sisters (with the possible exception of Mary) are very attractive.2001 A. Shreve Last Time they Met 124 Two sisters brought in a sufuria filled with pieces of burnt goat.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian swester, suster, sister, sester (West Frisian suster), Old Dutch suster, suester (Middle Dutch suster, Dutch zuster), Old Saxon swestar (Middle Low German süster, swester), Old High German swester, soster (Middle High German swester, German Schwester), Old Icelandic systir, Old Swedish, Swedish syster, Old Danish systir, systær (Danish søster), Gothic swistar, and further with Sanskrit svasṛ, classical Latin soror, Early Irish siur, Welsh chwaer, Old Church Slavonic sestra, Old Prussian swestro, Lithuanian sesuo (genitive sesers), Armenian k‘oyr, reflecting a word of Indo-European origin (perhaps ultimately reflecting a compound of Indo-European words meaning ‘own’ and ‘woman’).Form history and inflection. In Old English a strong feminine, belonging to the small class of kinship nouns in -r , although it ultimately represents a different type of Indo-European formation from father n., daughter n., etc. (the -t- in sister n. showing a later development). The word is probably to be interpreted as uninflected in the singular in Old English. However, some (chiefly West Saxon) forms such as swistær, swister, etc. at Forms 1α. probably continue older dative forms with the reflex of i by Germanic raising of e in the first syllable before i of the original inflectional ending, this vocalism later being levelled to other cases (compare also swiostor at Forms 1α. ); compare the Old English paradigms of mother n.1 and daughter n. The unmarked genitive is still well attested for the word in early Middle English (although the s -genitive is also attested from early Middle English onwards) and occasionally survives beyond Middle English in compounds (typically denoting familial relationship), especially in Scots; compare Compounds 3. The β. forms and γ. forms of the singular reflect the influence of the preceding -w- on the following vowel already seen in some of the Old English α. forms (compare swustor, swostor) with subsequent loss of -w- . (More recent Scots β. forms probably rather show a reflex of the δ. forms with lowering and retraction of /ɪ/ to /ʌ/.) The δ. forms (including modern English sister ) are apparently primarily due to influence from early Scandinavian (compare Old Icelandic systir ). For early evidence of this form type compare Old English gesystro at i-sistren n. α. forms (in a manuscript of the 11th cent.). Plural forms. The plural (originally nominative and accusative plural) shows a number of different types of formation in earlier English. In Old English beside the uninflected plural (e.g. sweostor ) and the type with vocalic ending (e.g. sweostra ), prefixed plural forms are attested (see i-sistren n.). Uninflected plurals survive in Middle English (see Forms 2α. ); prefixed forms are rare already in early Middle English. Beside the s -plural, which is now the usual form in modern standard English (attested from early Middle English onwards: see Forms 2γ. ), the n -plural sistren (see Forms 2β. ) continues to show limited currency in specific senses, especially sense 8 and some uses in sense 4. Compare the currency of the plural brethren for brother n. in a similar range of senses, which apparently sometimes serves as a model in later use. For the early history of the n -plural, compare the development of n -plurals in the transition from Old English to Middle English for daughter n. as well as brother n. However, compare also (apparently representing a different formation) Old English (Northumbrian) soesternum (dative plural, in an isolated attestation) and (with prefix) Old English gesweosternu , etc. (see discussion at i-sistren n.). It is possible that this earlier formation merged with the newly arising n -plural in early Middle English. Specific senses. In senses 7a and 8 after specific post-classical Latin senses of classical Latin soror: female fellow member of the Christian Church (Vulgate; late 2nd or early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), member of a religious community, nun (6th cent.).
I. A female sibling or other relative.
1.
a. A woman or girl considered in relation to another person or other people, as the child of the same parents; a female sibling. More generally: a woman or girl who has either parent in common with another sibling; a half-sister. Also as a form of address. (The female counterpart of brother n. 1a)
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > [noun]
sistereOE
sis1596
tittiea1628
sissy1757
skin and blister1925
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 658 Hæfde hine Penda adrifenne.., forþon he his swostor [lOE Laud swustor] anforlet.
OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xii. 13 Sege nu, ic ðe bidde, þæt ðu min swuster sy.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 604 Þær wes se cing gehaten Sæberht, Ricolan sunu Æðelberhtes suster.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6382 Þa susstress..Werenn labaness dohhtress.
a1275 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 38 (MED) Imette wid is soster, þe swikele wimon.
c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) l. 76 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 464 Martha hire suster ofte bi-fore op-braid hire schame and hire schonde, And chidde hire ful ofte for hire lecherie.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3855 Ðor was moyses sister dead.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 5395 Fedra hire yonger Soster eke, A lusti Maide.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 192 (MED) Þei taken hire doughtres & hire sustres to here wyfes.
a1475 (?a1350) Seege Troye (Harl.) (1927) l. 1528 (MED) Dame pollexene, Ectours soster..Come to that ilke place There her broder slayn was.
1535 T. Starkey Let. in Eng. in Reign Henry VIII (1878) i. p. xx The weyght of such maryage betwyx brother & systur.
1568 in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) III. 285 I am contentit..to tochir the said Laird of Grant witht my said soster.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) i. ii. 263 Her father..will not promise her to any man, Vntill the elder sister first be wed. View more context for this quotation
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 423 Prince Maurice, and his Sister, who was marryed to Count Hohenlo.
1762 J. Hall-Stevenson Crazy Tales 79 The eldest Suster spoke.
a1771 T. Gray Agrippina in Poems (1775) 132 Daughter, sister, wife, And mother of their Cæsars.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. iv. 53 I trust your honour will allow me to speak with my sister?
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold v. ii. 153 There was more than sister in my kiss, And so the saints were wroth.
1924 M. Arlen Green Hat i. 74 I realised then how he must first have worshipped and then hated his twin sister.
1967 A. Burgess in Hudson Rev. 20 104 All the Bennet sisters (with the possible exception of Mary) are very attractive.
2006 M. O'Farrell Vanishing Act Esme Lennox 236 Grandma, this is Esme. Your sister, Esme. Do you remember your sister? She's come to visit you.
b. A female animal considered in relation to another animal or other animals, as the offspring of the same parent or parents.In quot. OE as part of a riddle (describing ten chicks) using anthropomorphic imagery.
ΚΠ
OE Riddle 13 2 Ic seah turf tredan, x wæron ealra, vi gebroþor ond hyra sweostor mid; hæfdon feorg cwico.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 95 The male [camel] will neuer couer his mother, or his sister.
1793 Gen. Stud-bk. 178 Nosegay, Bred by Mr. Shaftoe, foaled in 1767, got by Snap, her dam, Flora, by Young Cade, out of Midge, Sister to Camilla.
1855 Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.) Farmer Jan. 203/2 The fact of their being either brother and sister, or parent and offspring, does not justify the refusal to unite the good qualities of both by breeding them together.
1948 Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland) 24 May 1/1 The two lady hogs in question are sisters.
2013 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 4 Nov. I have two dogs. They are Labradors, brother and sister.
2. A sister-in-law.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > [noun] > sister-in-law
sisterc1405
sister-in-law1440
good-sister1515
sister-law1530
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 2211 Suster..With al thauys, heer of my perlement.
c1480 W. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 652 Recomaunde me hertely to my sustyr your wyff... Wretyn at London..be yowre brodyr.
1625 G. Marcelline Epithalamium Gallo-Britannicum 52 Shee might haue a Sister by mariage, though not by birth.
1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 61 I shall always be your sincere Friend, without any Inclination to nearer Intimacy, when you become my Sister.
1787 E. Helme Louisa II. 72 I think it is best you treat my brother with lenity, and become my sister, (customary forms observed,) as soon as convenient.
1846 L. M. Child Fact & Fiction 279 Nay, my friend, I have not lost a brother, I have only gained a sister.
1879 Church Portrait Jrnl. July 63/2 Unfortunately he has confused a sister by marriage with a sister by blood.
1947 T. Williams Streetcar named Desire iii. i. 70 Stella. Now please tell me quietly what you think you've found out about my sister. Stanley.... You know Sister Blanche is no lily!
2005 W. Spencer Brother's Price xv. 301 You're marrying my brother. That makes us sisters.
†3. The mother-in-law of one's child. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > [noun] > mother-in-law of daughter
sister1701
1701 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) V. 451 I went to the funerall of my sister (Draper).
II. An unrelated woman regarded as bound to others by shared experiences or by membership of a particular group, and related senses.
4.
a. A fellow woman; a female friend with whom one has a very close relationship.
ΚΠ
OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xii. 50 Ipse meus et frater et soror et mater est : ðe min & broðer & suoester [OE Rushw. Gospels swuster] & moder is.
OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 188) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 33 Maria is his [sc. Cristes] modor lichamlice and gastlice his swustor.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 15709 Weppmenn & wifmenn baþe. Sinndenn till ure laferrd crist Full dere breþre. & susstress.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 159 He..haueð wið deadlich sunne..islein godd..Ant te engles..& alle hali halhen þe weren him ear for freond, for breðren & for sustren as to him ha beoð deade.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 89 He is my broþer and my zoster and my moder.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. vii. 4 Sey to wisdam, My sister thou art.
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Laud) 1 (MED) He þat doþ his Fader wille is his broþer, suster, and moder.
?a1475 Lessons of Dirige (Douce) l. 509 in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 137 Thus sayde I..vnto wormes sekurly,..‘My systren all ye bene.’
1522 Queen Margaret in J. Small Poet. Wks. G. Douglas (1874) I. p. cii I salbe your humbill and obeysant sister in all thing.
1578 R. Robinson tr. Dyall of Dayly Contemplacion sig. Av Thou sister to Sodome.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. xxiv. 394 The maidens..that day were called the Sisters of their god Vitzliputzli.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xiv. 64 Even now she stands before me, the sister of my spirit.
1796 S. T. Coleridge To Nightingale 1 Sister of love-lorn poets, Philomel!
1831 W. Scott Count Robert Introd. p. xxvii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. I What do they whisper, thou sworn sister of the Eumenides?
1847 A. Harris Settlers & Convicts vi. 94 When ‘her sister’ (so they usually speak in the sisterhood of sorrow) came here, she came too.
1870 Free Lance 16 Apr. 123/1 The working sisters of this great city are waking up to a sense of what they ought to do in making future provision for themselves.
1913 E. Sheldon Romance i. 31 To hear a woman..gloat over the physical failings of a less fortunate sister..deserves a far more serious rebuke.
2015 S. Young Remedy x. 228 I liked Hailey. She was a sister to me.
b. As a form of address to an unrelated woman, esp. one whose name is not known. Cf. brother n. 4c. In later use chiefly U.S. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun] > as form of address
womanc1225
madamc1300
sisterc1450
niece1488
girl1562
Madonna1584
young woman1683
princess1709
Sitt1838
babe1911
modom1920
mama1979
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > [noun] > one regarded as sister
sisterc1450
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Augustine (1910) 31 Þan schuld þei pley, as Wiclif disciples played, Sistir me nedith.
1603 tr. Batchelars Banquet v. sig. E1 Sister, god-morrow, what newes I pray?
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. v. 77 Will you goe Sister? Shepheard ply her hard. View more context for this quotation
1780 Mirror No. 98 And who taught you drinking songs, sister Juddy?
1835 Knickerbocker 6 293 All the friends called her sister,..which, as the half was easier to be bandied about than the whole,..soon dwindled into ‘sis’.
1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 56 He got up and walked over to her bench. ‘You up agin it too, sister?’ he said, gently.
1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax xi. 103 Just waiting for your boy friend, duckie..? You want the best, we got 'em, eh, sister?
1976 ‘R. Boyle’ Cry Rape i. 6 Come on, sister... Why won't you stay and talk to me? I'm a nice guy.
2012 R. Rash Cove ii. 25 ‘What do you need to buy, sister?’ Hank asked.
†c. A female holding a similar position to another person. Esp. as a term used by one monarch of another: a fellow queen. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
?1532 Ordynaunces Emperour f. xviii To set remedy to the great nombre of manslaughters done dayly in our sayd countrees.., we haue instantly requyred & ordeyned to our sayd moste dere and ryghtbeloued suster the quene.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2288/2 The miraculous custody & outscape of this our soueraigne Lady..in the straite tyme of Queene Mary her sister.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) v. ii. 2 Vnto our brother France, and to our Sister Health and faire time of day. View more context for this quotation
1764 Gentleman's & London Mag. Sept. 579/2 This has led our lords and masters to intercede with France..in terms more full and disclamatory than her sister of Spain.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth II. v. 111 If..it was needful to continue some restraint on the person of her unhappy sister of Scotland.
d. A (fellow) prostitute. Sometimes with contextualizing phrase.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute > fellow-prostitute
sister1641
1641 Brothers of Blade 5 Pox on't, the cause of my lying in there so long, was long of the pocky whore Petronella Burnyard, that insatiate sister of our Scabard.
1676 (title) The night-walkers declaration: or, The distressed whores advice to all their sisters in city and country.
1743 A. Pope Dunciad (rev. ed.) i. 230 While all your smutty sisters walk the streets.
1845 Morning Chron. 22 Dec. 5/4 Considerable excitement has prevailed in town to-day, in consequence of the death of a prostitute by the hand of a sister in misery and crime.
1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps i. iv. 94 If he can only have some outcast woman, or ‘sister’, as he calls her..he is a comparatively happy fellow.
1940 ‘J. Crad’ Traders in Women v. 130 Then she left her ‘selling position’ and it was immediately occupied by one of her ‘sisters’.
2014 F. Mudzingwa in I. Staunton Writing Lives (ed. 2) 50 It's too early in the day for our sisters of negotiable affections to be paying me any attention.
e. A (fellow) female advocate of women's rights, a (fellow) feminist.Often difficult to distinguish from sense 4a.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > [noun] > discrimination or inegalitarianism > by sex > opposition to > advocate or supporter of
sister1792
-righter1854
woman's righter1854
new woman1865
woman's rightist1869
women's righter1870
femininist1873
women's rightist1875
liberationist1879
emancipatress1882
feminist1887
freewoman1895
equal righter1896
womanist1902
women liberator1969
women's libber1970
libber1971
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman vii. 296 Would ye, O my sisters, really possess modesty, ye must remember that the possession of virtue, of any denomination, is incompatible with ignorance and vanity!
1839 Northern Star 11 Mar. 2/6 Sisters and friends, we intreat you to shake off that apathy and timidity which too generally prevails among our sex (arising from the prejudices of a false education), and join us in our holy cause.
1892 Woman's Column 13 Aug. We sisters, free and fearless, side by side with men shall stand At the polls for truth and justice, with our ballots in our hand.
1912 H. Ellis Task of Social Hygiene iii. 104 ‘La femme libre’..must be a woman of reflection and intellect who, having meditated on the fate of her ‘sisters’..shall give forth the confession of her sex..in such a manner as to furnish the indispensable elements for formulating the rights and duties of woman.
1968 Ramparts May 12 Our sisters in Vietnam have taught us many lessons.
1979 Guardian 5 May 12/2 Becoming Britain's first woman Prime Minister is one [achievement], whatever the sisters may say, that can only change perceptions of what women can aspire to.
1985 Bitch Sept. 5/1 Don't get me wrong, they can sing. But if sisters really do it themselves, why did Dave Stewart produce it?
f. A (fellow) black woman. Also in forms sistah, sista.sisters under the skin: see sisters under the skin at skin n. Phrases 13.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun] > woman
Negrine1703
negress1734
momma1803
auntie1825
aunt1835
sister1879
black velvet1900
soul sister1959
maid1961
1879 Scribner's Monthly Apr. 918/1 I sees some sistahs pruzint, mighty proud o' whut dey wearin'.
1926 L. Hughes Weary Blues 37 I got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride. Sing 'em sister! Got a railroad ticket, Pack my trunk and ride.
1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. vii. 164 De cow went bustin' on down de back-road wid de ole man till they met a sister he knowed.
1973 Black World June 90/2 Sister Williams breaks her book down into three major parts.
2002 L. Purcell Black Chicks Talking 338 The sista had great energy, which was needed for the night.
5. A member of a group of female mythological or imaginary beings, as the Muses or the Fates, etc.; esp. in the three sisters and variants. Cf. the fatal sisters at fatal adj. 4a, the Weird Sisters at weird adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > the Fates
weirdsc725
ParcaeeOE
the three sistersa1400
destiny14..
the Weird Sistersc1400
(the) fatal dames, ladies, sisters1552
the three Fatals1575
fate1600
the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > the (three) Fates
weirdsc725
ParcaeeOE
the three sistersa1400
(the) fatal dames, ladies, sisters1552
the three Fatals1575
fate1600
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 572 (MED) Ȝyf þou trowest..Þat þre sustren ben shapandys, And comun þere þe chylde ys bore, And shapyn hyt wele..For wykked beleue þat þou art ynne Þey make þe chylde to falle yn synne.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 1401 The myghty Muse..caliope And hir eighte sustren eke.
c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) l. 488 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 402 Er I was borne, my destanye was sponne By Parcas sustren, to sle me if they conne.
a1505 R. Henryson Orpheus & Eurydice 505 in Poems (1981) 149 Scho send hym doun vnto the sisteris thre.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Two Mortimers f. iiiiv Whose fatall threde false fortune nedes would reele, Ere it were twysted by the systers thre.
1592 T. Lodge Euphues Shadow (Hunterian Club) 79 I should be confirmed..euen to ouercome the insupportable trauailes of the sisters.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. v. 8 These weyward Sisters saluted me, and referr'd me to the comming on of time. View more context for this quotation
1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 20 in Justa Edouardo King Begin then, Sisters of the sacred well.
1723 C. Johnson Love in Forest v. 64 O Sisters three, Come, come to me, with Hands as pale as Milk; Lay him in Gore, since you have shore, with Sheers, this Thread of Silk.
1744 M. Akenside Pleasures Imagination ii. 59 The harmonious Muse And her persuasive sisters.
1768 T. Gray Fatal Sisters in Poems 83 Sisters, weave the web of death.
1859 Habits Good Society v. 194 Should the weird sisters, in a fit of bad temper [etc.].
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 325 Hark on a joyous day what prophet-story the sisters Open surely to thee.
1910 Outing Apr. 27 What see the Sisters who watch so near?
1957 T. Wilder Drunken Sisters 6 These are the great sisters—the Fates. Clotho weaves the threads of life; Lachesis measures the length of each; Atropos cuts them short.
2015 Citizen (Tanzania) (Nexis) 5 Nov. Whether this coincidence was by deliberate design..or was purely the work of the Three Sisters of Fate, is of little or no consequence!
6. slang. Among gay men: a fellow gay man, esp. one who is a friend rather than a lover. In later use chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who is a close friend rather than a lover
sister1709
1709 E. Ward Secret Hist. Clubs xxv. 285 They had cusheon'd up the Belly of one of their Sodomitical Brethren, or rather Sisters, as they commonly call'd themselves, disguising him in a Womans Night-Gown.
1941 G. Legman in G. W. Henry Sex Variants II. App. vii. 1176 Sister in distress, a homosexual male in trouble, usually with the police.
1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 181 A sister is sexually neutral with his comrades; he is a chum, not a lover. Sisters are in the same business, but only as competition.
1986 B. Penrose & S. Freeman Conspiracy of Silence (1987) 51 Most of their mutual gay friends assumed that they had begun as lovers and then, in the parlance of the homosexual world, become sisters.
2001 Village Voice (N.Y.) 4 Dec. 10/3 Meanwhile, the Feds were awkwardly speculating as to whether demonic hijacker Mohammed Atta was a sister!
III. Religious and nursing senses.
7.
a. A female member of a religious order, society, sisterhood, or guild; spec. a nun. Also as a form of address.Sometimes with modifying word, or phrase with of and a word characterizing the work of such a woman, esp. one engaged in nursing, charitable work, etc.Frequently in plural and with capital initials in the names of particular orders, etc., but also used more generally or allusively. See also Sisters of Charity at Phrases 4a, Sisters of Mercy at Phrases 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > nun > [noun]
nuneOE
sistereOE
minchenOE
nun-sisterOE
spousea1200
ladyc1275
religious1340
clergess1393
homely womana1400
monialc1400
moinesa1513
sanctimoniala1513
vowess1533
nosegent1567
votaress1589
votress1597
monkess1602
White Lady1606
cloistressa1616
sanctimony1630
religiosea1657
clergywoman1673
religieuse1682
religioso1708
vestal1717
society > faith > church government > monasticism > [noun] > mode of address for female religious
sisterc1660
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxiv. 340 Wæs in þæm seolfan mynstre sumu haligu nunne... Þa wæs heo restende in sweostra slæperne [L.in dormitorio sororum pausans], ða gehyrde heo..cuðne sweg.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxvii. 316 Hire gastlice modor Redempta gehaten mid anre sweoster stod hire ofer.
a1225 ( Rule St. Benet (Winteney) (1888) xxvii. 67 Þeo abbodesse mid ealre embehydnisse cariȝe enba þo ȝyltenda swustra [L. sorores].
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 3 To noriche more loue bytwene þe bretheren and sustren of þe bretherhede.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 174 A sister of þe fraternitie of Oegimez.
c1475 Antichrist & Disciples in J. H. Todd Three Treat. J. Wycklyffe (1851) p. cxxv Take we heede to..nunnes & sustris, & see hou þei folowen Crist for þe more partie.
a1500 Rule Minoresses in W. W. Seton Two 15th Cent. Franciscan Rules (1914) 81 Þe Abbes & þe couent of sustris Menowressis enclosid of þe monestre of oure ladi of þe diocise of Paris.
1530 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) VI. 16 I bequeith..to the priorisse of Thikhid and hir systers iijs.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 205 The Sisteris gray, befoir this day, Did crune within thair cloister.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. iv. 18 One Isabell, a Sister . View more context for this quotation
c1660 in J. Morris Troubles Catholic Forefathers (1872) (modernized text) 1st Ser. vi. 257 For Subprioress she appointed Sister Anne Tremaine, one of our old Sisters that came from St. Ursula's.
1739 J. Lockman tr. A. R. Le Sage Bachelor of Salamanca II. 113 Sister Angela was forc'd to continue simply a Nun, and to rest satisfied with being the greatest Beauty in the Community; which many of the Sisters would, very probably, have preferr'd to the Title of Abbess.
1796 M. Robinson Angelina III. 24 The grey sisters were endowed with five hundred marks an hour, to say masses.
1816 R. Southey Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo Proem xvi. 9 Behold the black Beguine, the Sister grey.
1844 tr. M. T. Asmar Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 16 Mass being concluded, each sister departs to pursue her particular employment.
1861 M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 112 They regard them..with far less indulgence than the schools of the Sisters.
1898 C. Bell tr. J.-K. Huysman Cathedral viii. 145 Sisters of the Visitation, Sisters of Providence, Sisters of Good Comfort,..all lived in hives close round Chartres.
1919 H. F. Day Rider of King Log xxvi. 411 Along the narrow street two Black Sisters were passing on their way to the convent.
1958 I. Murdoch Bell vi. 94 ‘I think a little merry-making might be in order,’ said Sister Ursula... ‘The Bishop is coming, you know.’
2013 J. Christmas And then there were Nuns v. 188 Sister Heather Francis was several paces ahead of me, her black veil fluttering in the breeze.
b. A senior nurse having charge of a ward in a hospital, or holding a similar position; (also) any member of a body of nurses. Also prefixed as a title to the name of a nurse.The foundation of St Thomas's Hospital (and similar hospitals) in London provided for nursing sisters (see quot. 1551), the term probably being carried over from the religious house previously on its site; by the 18th century, each of these had responsibility for a ward; later also they instructed the probationers in Florence Nightingale's training school, which opened at St Thomas's in 1860.Not exclusively used of female nurses holding such a position: see quot. 1990.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > nurse > [noun]
nouricec1225
keeper?c1450
nursekeeper1602
nursea1616
Parabolanus1673
sister1716
nurse-tendera1743
sick-nurse1816
Nightingale1862
Norlander1944
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > nurse > [noun] > sister
sister1716
1551 St. Thomas's Hosp. Royal Charter 12 Aug. Duas mulieres vel sorores aptas et convenientes ad attendendum et inserviendum pauperibus.]
1716 Gen. List Offices & Officers in J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 24) 661 Mrs. Aldersey, Matron, under whom are 16 Sisters, who take care of so many several Wards; with Nurses, Helpers, Watchers, &c. attending on the Poor.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 382 All their own officers and servants, viz. a president, a treasurer, an hospitaller or chaplain, 4 physicians, 3 surgeons.., 19 sisters, 19 nurses, [etc.].
1842 (title) A short explanation of the plan now in operation for establishing nursing sisters in England.
1860 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing (rev. ed.) 72 She [sc. the writer]..honestly believes that the perfection of surgical nursing may be seen practised by the old-fashioned ‘sister’ of a London hospital.
1873 J. O. Brookfield Not Heroine II. 158 Two ‘Nursing Sisters’, from an excellent institution,..took turns day and night to attend upon [him].
1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 424 The Matron..who is guided by the reports of the ‘sisters’ or ‘charge-nurses’.
1949 N. Mitford Love in Cold Climate ii. viii. 276 Doesn't it seem funny to have talcum powder and..boring old Sister waiting..for somebody who doesn't exist?
1976 C. Storr Unnatural Fathers iii. 34 Kind Sister Tucker..faithful in her professional code of discretion, bustled upstairs..to attend to her interesting patients.
1990 Times 28 Dec. 2/7 Alan Davies..is returning to the army as a theatre sister.
2002 J. Craig Yes Sister, No Sister (2010) xiii. 149 Ignoring protocol, I tug at her sleeve and say, ‘Sister, come quick. Mrs Tubbs has a burst abdomen.’
8. A fellow female member of the Christian Church as a whole, or of some body or association within this. Also as a form of address, sometimes with the plural form sistren. Cf. brother n. 8a.In quot. 1607 used allusively in pejorative sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > religion > a religion or church > [noun] > membership in > person having
brotherOE
sisterOE
church memberc1475
churchman1612
religionist1651
churchwoman1681
Zioner1681
churchite1791
bredren1809
co-religionist1842
co-religionary1861
triumphalist1967
OE St. Euphrosyne (Julius) in W. W. Skeat Ælfric's Lives of Saints (1900) II. 340 Eala swustor, ne geþafa ðu þæt ænig man þinne lichaman besmite.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 218 Swa swa seo Catanenscisce burh..hæfð minre swyster Agathen miccle foreþingunga, swa ic eom forgifen..nu þyssere byrig Siracusanan eow to geþingienne.
lOE St. Margaret (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 170 Margareta..cwæð to eallum þan þe hire ymbstodan: Geherað me, mine gebroðra and swustra, ealda and geunga, ealle gemænelice!
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 5 Leoue broðre and sustre ȝe hi hered hu [etc.].
c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 265 Sleȝþe zayþ... ‘Nou broþren and zostren y-hyreþ my red, and yueþ youre’.
?a1425 St. Lucy (Cambr. Add. 3039) l. 149 in M. Görlach E. Midl. Rev. S.-Eng. Legendary (1976) 78 Als my sistre saynt Agas worshipes Catens cite, So sal þis cite of Siracusane be helped þurgh me.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 41 (MED) ‘Syster,’ he seyd, ‘dredyth ȝe not of ȝowr maner of leuyng.’
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 63 Therbi [thou] enhauncidist thi silf aboue thi Cristen britheren and sistren.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Sviiiv Wyllyng in his hert, euery persone as his brother or suster in god to haue ye same graces & glory.
?1548 Order Churche Denmark in tr. J. Calvin Faythfvl Treat. Sacrament sig. Eiii My ryght deare and intierly beloued brethren, and systers in Jesu Christe.
1577 W. Fulke Answer True Christian 23 in Two Treat. against Papistes Our deare brethren and sistern begotten in Iesu Christ by the gospell.
1607 T. Dekker & J. Webster West-ward Hoe ii. ii. sig. D The Seruing-man [has] his Punke, the student his Nun in white Fryers, the Puritan his Sister.
1738 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 107 The rest of the day we spent with all the brethren and sisters.
1772 J. Macgowan Sure Found. 37 I would address myself to you, my brethren and sisters, as a church now reduced to a state of widowhood.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian iv, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 91 This is one of the precious sisters, and we'll take her word.
1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase I. xxi. 203 Brethurn and sisturn, it's a powerful great work, this here preaching of the gospul.
1861 N. A. Woods Prince of Wales in Canada & U.S. 261 The cortège had to be eked out with the Temperance Brethren and Sistren.
1925 Amer. Mercury Feb. 131/1 Half a dozen strong-armed and strong-lunged Brothers and Sisters..dragged me down the aisle of the church to the mourners' bench.
1965 C. Himes Cotton comes to Harlem iii. 25 One could tell she was strictly a church sister by the prissy way she kept pursing up her mouth.
2005 M. James John Crow's Devil (2010) 35 Do you feel the spirit?.. Can you feel it, my sister? Is it washing over you, my brother? I feel it. Everyone who is a child of the Lord should be feeling it right now.
IV. Something which is closely related to another thing.
9. Something having a close kinship or relationship to another; something belonging to the same class or group. Sometimes personified. See also appositive uses with the sense ‘fellow’ at Compounds 2.
a. With reference to an immaterial thing, esp. a quality, emotion, or behavioural trait.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > [noun] > that which is related or has affinity > of qualities or conditions
sistera1225
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 29 All ðat hire suster, ðe rihte ȝeleaue, hire seiȝeð, all hie [sc. hope] hit fastliche hopeð.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 118 (MED) Godes zone nom and spousede oure zoster and oure uless, oure manhode and oure kende.
c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 358 (MED) Soþ þis iseiȝ Hou Merci, hire soster, hir herte beiȝ.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9547 Þe first o þam was cald merci,..Pees þe feirth sister hight.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. vi. 133 Virginite, whiche is suster of angellis.
a1500 in PMLA (1954) 69 641 Coueytyse and meede ben hand in hand, Sustrys þey be of oon alyaunce.
1599 R. Barnfield in W. Shakespeare et al. Passionate Pilgrime (new ed.) sig. B2 If Musicke and sweet Poetrie agree,..(the Sister and the brother).
1604 R. Parsons 3rd Pt. Treat. Conuersions in Treat. Three Conuersions Eng. II. iv. 179 Vayne glory..with her other sisters, inobedience, boasting, &c.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 10 Thou with Eternal wisdom didst converse, Wisdom thy Sister . View more context for this quotation
1715 L. Theobald tr. Aristophanes Plutus ii. i. 27 Is it not known, even to a Proverb, that Poverty is the Sister of Beggary?
1784 H. Cowley More Ways than One i. 14 You have often heard that pity is sister to love, and I have proved it so, in the heart of the gentle Arabella.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna v. Song 123 Science, and her sister Poesy, Shall clothe in light the..cities of the free.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1876) ii. ii. 58 Inspiration decidedly the sister of daily labor.
1916 Black Diamond 24 June 517/3 That trinity of unlovely sisters, passion, prejudice and self-seeking.
1959 S. Jackson Haunting of Hill House 172 Fear and guilt are sisters.
2013 B. Monajem Magic of his Touch (e-book, accessed 3 July 2017) She imagined Sir Alexis touching and kissing Lucasta..and envy's sister, jealousy, blossomed inside her.
b. With reference to a material thing, place, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > [noun] > that which is related or has affinity
brotherOE
cousina1398
relativea1475
sistera1500
cousin-germanc1547
yokefellow1547
ally1566
affinitive1579
twin1592
conjugate1605
sympathizant1620
relatist1640
first cousin1670
family likeness1759
family resemblance1785
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 2320 (MED) Quycsyluere..wil nevir cleve to a thing But to metal of oone kind or odyre, For there he fyndith sustir or brodyre.
1580 T. Crewe tr. G. Meurier Nosegay of Morall Philos. sig. F3 Q. Who is sister to death? A. Sleepe.
1613 T. Dekker Strange Horse-race sig. B4v There should you behold a Mine of Tynne, (sister to Siluer).
1622 in King James VI & I Gracious Let. to Earle of South-Hampton (title page) The two renowned and most hopefull Sisters, Virginia, and the Summer-Ilands.
1736 T. Gray Let. 8 May in Corr. T. Gray & W. Mason (1853) 4 The sun's pale sister, drawn by magic strain.
1752 E. Young Brothers i. i The days of life are sisters.
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom I. 176 I am really concerned for the metropolis and her younger sisters.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. xxxii. 24 Where Lusitania and her sister meet, Deem ye what bounds the rival realms divide?
1867 J. L. Porter Giant Cities of Bashan 155 Olivet overtopping its sister [sc. Mt. Moriah] three hundred feet.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 49 Sparta..in laws and institutions is the sister of Crete.
1917 Motor Age 15 Feb. 16/2 Few realize to what an extent the gasoline engine and its newer sister, the kerosene motor, have become part and parcel of the every-day business of farming.
1985 B. Neil As we Forgive vi. 87 Ben's house..seemed to stand alone, separate from its terraced sisters.
2005 Independent (Nexis) 5 Feb. 45 The drink incorporates creme de mure (blackberry liqueur), the somewhat sweeter sister of creme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur).
†10. Nautical. Any of various items of tackle having two or more matching components. In quot. 1834 short for sister block n. at Compounds 4. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > tackle or purchase > [noun] > system of) pulley(s) > for raising or lowering sails
ram-head1514
ram's head1627
jewel block1769
sister block1794
sister1834
1410–12 in N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 475 Un rakke ove ii. sustres, un trusp'aill ove ii. sustres, ii. slenges, un trusse, un canon.
1466 Naval Acct. in B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1958) II. 70 Item, for ij systers for the mayn pareylle, ij.d.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. vi. 65 ‘What blocks have we below—not on charge?’ ‘Let me see, sir, I've one sister, t'other we split in half the other day.’
11. In plural. The Pleiades. Chiefly poetic. Now rare except in seven sisters n. 1.See note at Pleiad n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > Northern constellations > [noun] > Ursa Major > Charles's Wain
wainc888
Charles's Waina1000
sistersc1425
chariot1555
Triones1594
north car1633
northern car1697
wagon1867
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 3334 (MED) Sche allone among þe susters seuene Schroudeth to vs schamfastly hir chere.
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 266 Hys bryght plowgh of sterrys, and eke the systyrrys at ther stent, The qwyche be namyd the sterrys seuyn.
1616 W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals II. i. 5 Diuine Electra (of the Sisters seauen That beautifie the glorious Orbe of heauen).
1725 W. Benson tr. Virgil Husbandry: 1st Bk. 22 First, let the Sisters in the Morn go down, And from the Sun retire the Gnossian Crown.
1876 New Eng. Jrnl. Educ. 3 212/3 And calmly gliding up the skies, The mild and gentle Pleiades, The seven sweet starry sisters rise.
2010 N. Nigro Knack Night Sky xiv. 167/2 Oh, in addition to the seven main stars in the cluster, the sisters, there are two more major stars—the sisters' parents, as it were: Atlas and Pleione.
†12. Technical uses.
a. In plural. The boards which support the ends of the steps in a wooden staircase; cf. stringboard n. at string n. Compounds 2. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > stringers
stair-tree1374
sister1518
rail1679
string1711
carriage1758
rough string1819
notch-board1823
bridgeboard1842
stringer1883
1518 in State Papers Henry VIII (P.R.O.: SP 1/17) f. 74v A Bloke to sett the Systers of the stayers vpon of iij foott long & xviij Inchys brode & x Inchys thycke.
b. Either of the cheeks (cheek n. 6a) of a cider press. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > cider-making > [noun] > mill or press > part of
voller1675
flail1678
sister1789
suiter1833
suiter board1897
1789 W. Marshall Rural Econ. Glocestershire II. 312 On each side [sc. of the press] rises a strong upright cheek, provincially a ‘sister’.
1813 T. Rudge Gen. View Agric. Glouc. 225 The cheeks, or ‘sisters’, are two strong upright pieces of oak, kept to their places by being let into the ground.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 291 An improved cider-press..; B B the cheeks or sisters.
c. Lacemaking. A stool on which a lace pillow is placed. Cf. thread-sister n. at thread n. Compounds 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > lacemaking > other equipment
thread-sister1721
pricking1851
sister1892
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 Feb. 1/3 The term ‘sister’ used for the stool on which the lace-makers place their pillows.
13. Palmistry. A line on the palm which runs parallel to another; = sister line n. at Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > other lines
line of the livera1440
sister1558
headline1571
liver line1571
discriminal1652
heart line1652
line of (the) sun1653
natural line1653
sun line1653
dragon's tail1678
fate-line1889
1558 F. Withers tr. J. ab Indagine Briefe Introd. Art Chiromancy viii. sig. F.i A certaine short line going down ward by the line of life, (& therfore called the sister of the line of life:)..signifieth a man delitynge in venerye.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. i. 2 The same Signs.., with the Sisters relating to the Lines.
?1730 Dr. Flamstead's & Mr. Patridge's New Fortune-bk. (ed. 2) 90 If the Line of Life be abrupt and impedited, the Sister thereof..preserves the Person from Death.
1895 H. Frith Pract. Palmistry ii. 117 These ‘sisters’, with the lines which cross the Mount of Venus horizontally, form the ‘grille’, which denotes an excess of the Mount, strong affections, or even passion without any real affection.
2006 W. G. Benham Benham Bk. Palmistry xxiv. 278 The line of Mars is a sister to the line of Life.

Phrases

P1.
† sisters of the Bank n. Obsolete rare prostitutes; cf. bank n.1 9c.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute > collectively or as a class
sisters of the Bank1548
boiled stuffa1616
women-striker1665
1548 R. Crowley Informacion & Peticion sig. Biv Immodeste and wanton gyrles haue hereby ben made sisters of the Banck (the stumbling stock of all frayle youth).
P2.
† sister of the scabbard n. Obsolete slang a prostitute.
ΚΠ
1641 Bartholomew Faire 3 You may quickly know these nimble youthes, and likely find them..in discourse with their wenches.., (the sisters of the scabard).
a1652 R. Brome Weeding of Covent-Garden i. i. 11 in Five New Playes (1659) What's that a Sister of the Scabberd, brother of the Blade?
P3.
sister in (also at) arms n. any woman considered in relation to another or others, as fighting on the same side or for the same cause (chiefly figurative); cf. brother in arms at brother n. and int. Phrases 1.
ΚΠ
1831 Hazard's Reg. Pennsylvania 12 Nov. 310/1 The wise providence of her sisters in arms..did not permit them to be frigid upon the subject of their own reputations.
1928 North-China Herald 14 Apr. 87/2 The stay-at-home imagines she would be happier like her sister-at-arms in the big world.
1976 J. Crosby Nightfall xxxii. 191 Elf was her revolutionary sister-in-arms.
2014 H. R. Clinton Hard Choices i. 5 For this day at least, we were still sisters in arms, looking forward to better days ahead.
P4. In plural, in the names of a number of (mostly Roman Catholic) religious orders. Also occasionally in singular with reference to an individual member.
a. Sisters of Charity.
ΚΠ
1785 T. Mortimer tr. J. Necker Treat. Admin. Finances of France III. xvii. 219 The sisters of charity, whose..zeal is maintained and supported by a fixed sentiment of religion.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 181/2 There are a Roman Catholic church..and an establishment of the Sisters of Charity.
1875 H. B. Stowe We & our Neighbors xx. 202 She seems to regard her mission as like that of the brave Sisters of Charity who go upon the field of battle amid belching cannon and bursting shells, to bring away the wounded.
1936 Irish Monthly 64 704 She became a Sister of Charity, expecting to nurse the sick.
2012 Furrow 63 316 Entering the Sisters of Charity was her way of following her ideal.
b. Sisters of Mercy.Sisters of Mercy is the name of a Roman Catholic sisterhood founded at Dublin in 1827.
ΚΠ
1818 A. M. Porter Fast of St. Magdalen III. xxv. 164 She marked the languid air of the first, and the hasty movements of the other, with that interest she had learned from the Sisters of Mercy to feel for every wayfaring stranger.
1829 Standard 9 Apr. He principally objected to the order of the Sisters of Mercy, who went about amongst the poor Protestants under the pretext of charity, but really with a view to converting them to their own religious faith.
1854 Galignani's Messenger 13 Dec. 4/2 Last week there came here [i.e. to The Crimea] twenty Sisters of Mercy.
1873 J. N. Murphy Terra Incognita xiv. 158 A clean coverlet and a pair of blankets, given him by the Sisters of Mercy, are the only bed clothes.
1905 Catholic Herald 3 Feb. 12/3 The Hospice for the Dying..is..under the management of the Irish Sisters of Mercy.
1991 Daughters of Sarah May 25/1 The suppression of tubal ligation surgery in U.S. hospitals run by the Sisters of Mercy.
P5.
sister from another mister n. [after brother from another mother at brother n. and int. Phrases 6] slang (originally and chiefly U.S.) a very close female friend.
ΚΠ
1998 Viagra—Stay Hard Rally in alt.scooter (Usenet newsgroup) 19 May Various sources..: Brother from another mother... Sister from another mister.
2006 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 19 Nov. (2 Tampa ed.) (Tampa & State section) 5 b [Commissioner] Blair closed his remarks with this oddball quip: ‘Commissioner Scott, you're a brother from another mother. Ronda, you're a sister from another mister.’
2015 Scarborough (Toronto) Mirror (Nexis) 23 Sept. 1 She spoke about their instant close friendship from the first day they met some years ago. She was his ‘sister from another mister’, while he was her ‘brother from another mother’.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Iumelle, a female twin, or sister twin.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes II. iv. vii. 199 The elder Grace, with her fair Sister-Train [L. cum Nymphis geminisque sororibus], In naked Beauty dances o'er the Plain.
1787 R. Burns Poems (new ed.) 238 The beauteous, seraph Sister-band.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iii. 163 Was it sister-love That made the silver rings Round her smooth ankles and her tawny arms, Shine daily brightened?
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna vii. xxii. 167 We, on the earth, like sister twins lay down.
1846 C. G. Prowett tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound 26 From out our sister-band thou'dst won thy bride.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust (Boston ed.) II. ii. iii. 197 In our new sister-triad what a beauty!
1953 Phi Delta Kappan 34 283/1 Inwardly he puts his colleague, Miss Jones, in that sister role.
1977 Black Perspective in Music 5 10 Small groups—such as..the Swiss Singers, a sister duo—maintained a steady stream of concerts in the Argyll Rooms.
2007 T. Apter Sister Knot 104 At the earliest stages of the sister bond, girls work to define their identity as distinct from a sister's.
C2. Appositive, with the sense ‘fellow’, ‘having a close kinship or relationship to another’; ‘belonging to the same class or group’.In linguistic contexts, denoting a parallel familial relationship (as between languages, dialects, etc.). With reference to places, institutions, etc., sometimes implying a more or less formal link.
a. With names of things.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > [noun] > fellow or one of the same kind
anlike1340
semblablec1400
fellow?1440
ally1566
sister1570
connatural1640
kindred spirit1706
congener1838
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. f. 363v/1 A sister Church one with an other, seekyng together ye glory of Christ.
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. x. 546/1 The right of our noble sister nation.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 70 We must..come from Schisme to unity with our neighbour Reformed sister Churches.
1679 J. Fell in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) I. 270 If we are justified, the advantage will extend to our Sister University.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 92 Those two sister-sins, adultery and idolatry.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. v. 619 Alike their leaves, but not alike they smil'd With sister-fruits.
1768 W. Gilpin Ess. Prints ii. 58 The art of scraping metzotintos is greatly more improved than either of its sister-arts.
1789 G. White Nat. Hist. Selborne 24 Wolmer, with her sister forest Ayles Holt.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 378 The emulation of the sister University was moved.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xlii. 114 Each State recognises the judgments of the courts of a sister State.
1954 Life 19 Apr. 11/2 We have less culture than our sister city downstream.
1984 S. Koss Rise & Fall Polit. Press in Brit. II. 556 The Mail and its sister papers strove to undermine Baldwin's authority.
2012 Independent 17 Sept. 36/4 The sister website of luxury e-tail phenomenon Net-a-Porter.
b. With designations of persons (and occasionally animals).
ΚΠ
1655 G. Hall Triumphs of Rome iv. 47 She had not so much patience as her Sister-Saint in Ireland.
1687 T. Brown Saints in Uproar in Wks. (1730) I. 77 The kingdom..is ten times as populous as when the legend supposes you and your sister-trollops to have lived there.
1708 W. Wycherley Let. 13 May in A. Pope Wks. (1788) V. 27 Her artful innocence..will..make her sister rivals of this age blush for spite, if not for shame.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. i. 447 The Sister-Graces hand in hand Conjoin'd by love's eternal band.
1775 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 89 Spending the day with my namesake and sister delegate.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 107 To me Shall they become like sister-antelopes.
1848 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 3) 167 While six sister goddesses mazily tread The bright fields of air.
1862 Queen Victoria in R. Gower Rec. & Reminisc. (1903) 69 Pray express to all these kind sister widows the deep and heartfelt gratitude of their widowed Queen.
1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Nov. 792/2 Cousin Nellie..finds a sister-soul in the comfortable person of an Aug [sc. August visitor] of her own age.
1950 E. Wilson Classics & Commercials 197 Two of Jane Austen's sister novelists have collaborated to pay her homage.
1972 Spare Rib Nov. 4/2 My sister contestants..were genuinely friendly and not at all ‘bitchy’ and all the other things they are reputed to be.
2009 Toronto Star (Nexis) 14 Apr. l1 Needless to say, my sister feminist bloggers have unleashed a tsunami of online outrage.
C3. Compounds with simple unmarked genitive. Chiefly Scottish or archaic in later use.Compare discussion of the unmarked genitive and its relevance to compounds in the etymology.
†a. With the sense ‘of a sister’, or sometimes ‘of a parent's sister’, esp. in terms of familial relationship, as sister child, sister husband, etc. Obsolete.Some of the more established compounds of this type are treated separately.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > nephew or niece > [noun] > nephew
gadlingeOE
neveeOE
nephewc1325
niecea1382
nea1387
sisterc1390
nepote1519
neposa1600
Welsh nephew1799
nevvy1819
neef1838
nefie1951
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. x. l. 173 Sem [read Seth] and his suster children spouseden eiþer oþer, Aȝeyn þe lawe of vr lord, lyȝen to-gedere.
a1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 671/20 (MED) Sororius: syster hosband.
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 114v A Sistir husband, sororius.
1667 Edinb. Test. LXXIII. f. 68 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Sister Quhilk John & Androw Howats ar sister childreene to the said vmquhill Androw Carmichaell.
b.
sister bairn n. chiefly Scottish a child of a parent's sister, a cousin; (also, esp. in early use) a child of one's own sister, a nephew or niece. Sc. National Dict. (at Sister) records this compound as still in use in Shetland and Caithness in 1970. [Compare Old Frisian swesterbern, Middle High German swesterbarn, Old Icelandic systurbarn, all in sense ‘sister's child’.]
ΚΠ
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 318 Nepotum, sweostorbearna.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xiv. 146 Seo halige Maria þæs hælendes moder stod wið ða rode..and Iohannes samod, hire swuster bearn.
1590 Inventory Munim. Earl of Crawford 4 Nov. II. 197 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Sister-barne Sir, parrell nocht sisterbairnis heritage.
1680 in Cloud of Witnesses (1871) 85 The Earl of Mar's mother and I being sister-bairns.
a1899 D. Nicolson MS Coll. Caithness Words in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1904) V. 449/1 Sister-bairn[a sister's child; a cousin on the mother's side].
sister daughter n. now archaic a sister's daughter; a niece.
ΚΠ
OE Will of Æðelgifu (Sawyer 1497) in J. Crick Charters of St. Albans (2007) 146 Wulfmære mire swustur sunu,..Ælfgife mire swustur dohtor.
a1500 (a1400) Ipomedon (Chetham) (1889) l. 2372 (MED) His syster doghttur, sib ful nere..Toke he wyth hym eke.
a1500 Warkworth's Chron. (1839) 3 One fayre ladye, suster-doughtere to the Kynge of Fraunce.
a1600 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 354 The empreouris sister douchtaris.
c1657 W. Mure Hist. Rowallane in Wks. (1898) II. 254 Lord Hammiltoune who had to wife his Nice or sister daughter.
1783 W. Green tr. Ovid New Transl. 2nd. Bk. Metamorphoses 28 Erichton born without a Mother's aid, By Pallas in a wicker Cage was laid, To the three Cecrop's Sister-daughter sent.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers iii. vi. 119 ‘Go, Éowyn sister-daughter!’ said the old king. ‘The time for fear is past.’
sister part n. Scottish (now historical) (in Orkney and Shetland) a daughter's share of heritable property; (hence) a small or unfair portion.Under the freehold system of Orkney and Shetland (see udal n.), a daughter's share was equivalent to half that of a son's.
ΚΠ
1514 in Orkney & Shetland Rec. (1907) I. 255 And the said Schir William to louse a sistyr part of the forsaid laundis and heretage.
1529 in J. S. Clouston Rec. Earldom of Orkney (1914) 210 The ful price of my sister part of land and heritage efter the decese of my fader.
1610 in A. Peterkin Notes Orkney & Zetland (1822) I. App. 96 Quhan ony landitman..depairtit this mortall lyffe, the haill lands and heretage appertening to him..war equallie and lauchfullie divydit amangis his haill bairnis, alswell sones as dochteris, comptand alwayis twa sistars partis for ane brotheris pairt.
1793 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. VII. 584 The son got two merks, and the daughter one; hence the sister part, a common proverb in Shetland to this day.
1866 T. Edmondston Etymol. Gloss. Shetland & Orkney Dial. 102 Sister-part, the portion of a daughter.
1914 J. S. Angus Gloss. Shetland Dial. 118 Sister-pairt, the portion of a daughter—the half of a brother's part; less than one's right; the smallest part. (Under the udal system, a man's property was divided among all his children, a son getting double the portion of a daughter: hence ‘sister-pairt’ is used metaphorically.)
2001 W. P. L. Thomson New Hist. Orkney (ed. 2) 269 Robert was also accused of altering the law regarding the sister-part in udal.
sister son n. now archaic a sister's son; a nephew. [Compare Old Frisian swestersune, Middle High German swestersun, Old Icelandic systursonr.]
ΚΠ
eOE (Kentish) Will of Abba (Sawyer 1482) in N. P. Brooks & S. E. Kelly Charters of Christ Church Canterbury, Pt. 2 (2013) 664 Ðonne ann ic his minra swæstarsuna swælcum se hit geðian wile.
OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.iv) anno 1054 His sunu Osbarn, & his sweostorsuna Sihward..wurdon þær ofslægene.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4193 Þe oðer wes mire suster sune.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 3525 King arthures soster sone þe king howel was.
?1530 J. Rastell Pastyme of People sig. *Cii Albert..was slayne by his syster sonne.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 10 Dauid of Abirnethie, his sistir sone.
a1714 Earl of Cromarty Hist. Family Mackenzie in W. Fraser Earls of Cromartie (1876) II. 490 Monro of Foulls, sister sone to this Johne.
1806 R. Jamieson tr. in Pop. Ballads I. 216 And is he come, thy sister-son, Frae thy father's land to thee?
1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King vi. 255 Fréalaf, Helm's sister-son.
2011 S. Monette & E. Bear Tempering of Men (2012) ii. 21 Perhaps there were sister-sons to stand the family's obligations.
C4.
sister act n. (esp. in a popular entertainment context) an act or performance by two or more women who are either sisters or presented as such.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > type of item
hit1811
star turn1885
sister act1893
showstopper1916
patter act1941
single act1952
bomb1954
stunt-
1893 Boston Post 7 Feb. 5/4 The Washburn sisters, in their sister act, were recalled several times.
1908 G. V. Hobart Go to It 56 Their names were Millie and Tillie, and they..did a sister act.
2014 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 127 184 After the sister act broke up in 1934, each of the Overstakes had a solo career that continued into the 1940s.
sister block n. Nautical a tackle block having two sheaves (sheave n.1 2a), usually one above the other.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > tackle or purchase > [noun] > system of) pulley(s) > for raising or lowering sails
ram-head1514
ram's head1627
jewel block1769
sister block1794
sister1834
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 156 Sister-blocks are made of ash, similar to two single blocks, and are turned out of a solid piece,..one above the other.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 23 Take it..through the upper sheave of the sister block.
2014 L. Gordon et al. in K. J. Crisman Coffins of Brave iv. 101 Sister blocks seized between the legs of the topmast shrouds are shown in the reconstruction.
sister cell n. [after German Schwesterzelle (1851 or earlier)] Cell Biology each of two or more cells produced by the fission of the parent cell in mitosis or meiosis; each of the daughter cells of the same mother cell.
ΚΠ
1853 A. Henfrey tr. A. Braun Refl. on Phenomenon of Rejuvenescence in Nature in A. Henfrey Bot. & Physiol. Mem. 137 All the cells of such a net are sister-cells, for they all originate in one and the same mother-cell.
1882 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 4) iii. i. 763 By the division of an epidermal cell (the mother-cell) by a partition which extends across and divides the two daughter- or sister-cells.
2006 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103 2709/1 Sister cells are expected to have similar nuclear size and total signal.
sister chromatid n. Biology each of a pair of chromatids derived from a common parent chromosome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > chromosome > chromatid
chromatid1900
sister chromatid1914
1914 Jrnl. Morphol. 25 718 In Hippiscus the rings lie in the equatorial plate with sister chromatids directed toward opposite poles of the spindle.
1975 Nature 13 Nov. 122/1 Techniques have been developed which distinguish between sister chromatids without using radioisotopes and autoradiography.
2012 K. C. Roach et al. in R. S. Singh et al. Rapidly Evolving Genes & Genetic Syst. ix. 84/1 These microtubules pull apart sister chromatids.
sister colony n. now historical any British colony in North America, the Caribbean, or Australia considered in relation to another or others, as being similar or having a close relationship.
ΚΠ
1732 Compar. Brit. Sugar Colonies & New Eng. 29 This I apprehend would be an honest Method of acquiring Wealth to themselves, and of being a useful Colony to Great Britain and to its Sister Colonies.
1854 H. Hussey Austral. Colonies i. 23 South Australia..produces sufficient grain to supply the whole population, and a surplus for export to the sister colony of Victoria.
1917 W. R. Riddell Constit. Canada in Hist. & Pract. Working i. 35 New Brunswick was in the same happy condition as its sister colonies.
2006 J. L. Wakelyn America's Founding Charters xxv. 467 The eighteenth-century story of Pennsylvania governance..repeated the pattern of its sister colonies.
sister dialect n. = sister language n.
ΚΠ
1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 179 The sister dialects, of the Italian, Spanish, and French.
1844 Proc. Philol. Soc. 1 217 Similar forms may be found in the sister-dialects.
2001 B. A. Fennell Hist. Eng. iii. 59 The Anglo-Saxons spoke West Germanic, a sister dialect to Old High German.
Sister Dora n. [ < the name of the celebrated nurse Dorothy (‘Dora’) Pattison (1832–78)] a type of nurse's cap (see quot. 1971); frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > denoting office or profession > other
coif1399
cap (also hat) of maintenancec1475
calotte16..
biggin1639
Sister Dora1893
beret1948
1893 Dundee Courier & Argus 20 Oct. 3/4 The nurses wear a dark-blue cotton gown, with a large white apron and a Sister Dora cap.
1924 R. Hall Unlit Lamp xlvi. 314 I made swabs at the Town Hall at Seabourne... I had a Sister Dora arrangement on my head; we all had, it made us look important. Some of the women wore aprons with large red crosses on their bibs.
1971 J. Manton Sister Dora xvi. 266 [Dora Pattison] made herself up a new cap, still tied with a butterfly bow and streamers under the chin but folded smoothly back over her dark hair. It was to be known to generations of nurses as ‘a Sister Dora’.
1978 Church Times 29 Dec. 11/3 The little white cap worn by nurses everywhere became known within the profession as ‘a Sister Dora’.
2009 M. J. Baxter Past Recaptured 20 A smart sister dressed in navy blue wearing a ‘Sister Dora’ cap edged with a frill came in.
† sister-fold n. poetic Obsolete rare a sisterly embrace.
ΚΠ
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. xxx. 177 These Maids enlinked in sister-fold.
sister hook n. chiefly Nautical a tackle hook having two parts which fit together, each forming a mousing (mousing n. 2b) for the other.
ΚΠ
1848 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 22 Apr. 500 sister hooks, assorted sizes.
1886 R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log iv. 74 Unknotted jibsheets fly out, sister-hooks rattle loose.
1943 A. Ransome Picts & Martyrs xv. 141 Never forget to mouse the sister-hooks when you fasten the main halliard to the yard.
1993 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 26 Jan. 1937/1 Said device comprising a sister hook arrangement including a pair of discrete sister elements.
sister house n. a house or building inhabited by members of a female religious order; cf. brother-house n. at brother n. and int. Compounds 3.
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1547 in J. W. Clay Testamenta Eboracensia (1902) VI. 256 To everie one of the susters in the suster house xij d., and to everie one of the brether in the brother house xij d.
1873 Congregational Q. Apr. 289 The establishment of a monastery of regular canons, in connection with the communities of Brethren and Sisters of the Common Lot; (for there were Sister-houses as well as Brother-houses).
1908 Sabbath Recorder 9 Nov. 592/1 The entire eastern end of the Cloister was used as a Sister House and really fixed the name by which the entire establishment is known—‘The Nunnery.’ The Brother House was at the other end of the building.
2002 P. Allen Concept of Woman II. viii. 732 Florens Radedijns (1350-1400), led the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life in expanding brother-houses and sister-houses into other areas of Germany.
sister island n. any island adjacent to another or others specified.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > island > [noun] > other
desert island1607
holt1611
sister isle1612
atoll1625
floating island1638
sister island1659
tropical island1769
artificial island1775
home island1806
wooden island1808
fire-isle1817
coral-island1831
thrum cap1832
branch-island1834
island-continent1872
off-island1880
hover1892
phosphate island1909
1659 T. Willis Καιροὶ Χαλεποί 123 Was it not for sinne, how should England be as Eden,..admir'd by all its Sister Islands, its Neighbour Nations for Beauty, Riches, and Renown.
1816 S. T. Coleridge Statesman's Man. 40 The prospective measures in agitation respecting our sister island.
2006 Daily Mail (Nexis) 9 Dec. 69 I certainly was not looking for a hotter version of Blackpool, which was how I imagined Tenerife and its sister islands.
sister isle n. = sister island n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > island > [noun] > other
desert island1607
holt1611
sister isle1612
atoll1625
floating island1638
sister island1659
tropical island1769
artificial island1775
home island1806
wooden island1808
fire-isle1817
coral-island1831
thrum cap1832
branch-island1834
island-continent1872
off-island1880
hover1892
phosphate island1909
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion i. 2 Yee seauen small sister Iles,..which to see The halfe-sunk sea-man ioyes.
1838 T. Langton in H. H. Langton Gentlewoman in Upper Canada (1950) 58 William Jones is from the sister isle.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 51 A native of the sisterisle..by his brogue.
2010 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 23 Jan. Find time, too, for the tranquil charms of Gozo, Malta's smaller, greener, more rural sister isle.
sister keelson n. Nautical a second keelson running parallel to the main one, and providing additional strength.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > bottom or part under water > [noun] > keel and kelson > keel > inner keel
kelson?1611
sister keelson1806
bilge-keelson1869
1806 in Proc. Ships tendered Service United East-India Company (1809) 2663 To shift the strake next the limbers, where there is not sister keelson between the main and fore sleepers.
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding ii. 45 The forms of keelsons and sister-keelsons used in iron shipbuilding have been almost as various as the forms of keels.
1962 Mariner's Mirror 48 221 There was rider keelson upon rider keelson rising up in amidships to the hold-deck beams, and these were flanked on each side by a goodly array of sister keelsons.
2015 A. Delis Mediterranean Wooden Shipbuilding (2016) iv. 122 From the 1850s, in larger hulls such as on the Zagora, a sister keelson was inserted on each side of the keelson.
sister kingdom n. any kingdom regarded as similar to, or having a close relationship with, another or others specified.
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1605 A. Munday Triumphes Re-vnited Britania sig. Biijv These Sister-kingdomes now shake hands.
1779 Mirror No. 30 Our frequent communication with the metropolis of our sister kingdom [sc. England].
1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella I. i. i. 13 The sister kingdom of Aragon.
2006 Hispanic Rev. 74 229 The potential use of military force against Spain's sister kingdom represented the main preoccupation of those within and without the realms in question.
sister language n. a language closely related to another; a cognate language.
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1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. i. 22 Hee that seeth how Iohn or Iames are transported in such vnlike sounds from the Originall, in Greeke, Latine, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, English..would scarcely acknowledge them..to haue any kindred either to the mother tongue, or in these many sister languages.
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. iii. §1. 303 The Greek and Latin Tongues I consider as Sister-Languages.
1842 J. C. Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 246 Other great nations in India whose idioms are sister languages of the people of Tamul.
1999 H.-M. Sohn Korean Lang. i. 11 Korean and Japanese are widely regarded as each other's closest sister language.
sister line n. Palmistry a line on the palm which runs parallel to another, esp. the life line.
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1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xxxviii. f. 168v Saturnia: appeareth to be a sister lyne comming from the wrest, and retching in manye handes, vnto the Mont of the middle finger.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 57 When the sister line of the line of Life is short.
1884 A. R. Craig Your Luck's in Your Hand (ed. 3) xxiii. 157 When the lines are bad, they may be repaired by what are called sister lines.
2004 R. Gile & L. Lenard Compl. Idiot's Guide to Palmistry (ed. 2) xii. 180 If you have a sister line as strong or nearly as strong as the life line, it may hint that you wear your moral character as a bit of a badge of honor.
sister province n. any province regarded as similar to, or having a close relationship with, another or others specified; spec. a Canadian province considered in relation to another.
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1653 E. Chisenhale Catholike Hist. 279 If anything should be debated in her Convocation, which might not seem satisfactory to any other sister Province she would entertain a free debate with her.
1784 Whitehall Evening-Post 7 Oct. The Hollanders..must..engage for the sister provinces.
1877 Interim Rep. Registar-Gen. Province Ont. in Sessional Papers Province Ont. IX. No. 16 2 Denmark gives its rate of mortality 18 per 1000, Sweden, 16, and the sister Province of Nova Scotia.., 12.
1993 Globe & Mail Rep. on Business Mar. 21 The McKenna agenda includes major improvements to the province's infrastructure, such as..building a bridge link with sister province Prince Edward Island.
† sister right n. Obsolete something to which a female member of a religious community is entitled.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > legal right > right of specific class, person, or place > [noun] > a right of sisterhood
sister right1467
1467 in J. T. Fowler Acts Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1875) 233 De et super unum suster right in collegio Sanctæ Trinitatis Pontefract.
sister ship n. each of two or more ships built to the same design.It is likely that quot. 1635 is a poetic coinage rather than illustrating this sense.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > vessel belonging to specific line > vessel having same owner
sister ship1799
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > balloons and airships > [noun] > airship > other airship with same owner
sister ship1966
1635 T. May Victorious Reigne Edward III ii. sig. E2v Two sister-ships of æquall strength, of frame Alike they shew'd.]
1799 D. Lescallier Vocabulaire des Termes de Marine Anglois et François i. 154 Sister ships, vaisseaux de même construction, & absolument semblables.
1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 325/2 The ‘Vernon’, a sister ship.., made the voyage from Calcutta to Spithead..in 86 days.
1886 Engineering 12 Mar. The Edinburgh, a sister ship to the Colossus.
1966 N. Nicolson in Diaries & Lett. H. Nicolson (1966) 56 The airship, R.101, was contracted by the Government in 1925 as a sister-ship to R.100.
2003 Navy News Sept. 48/1 Chatham left the UK in mid-January, with the job of relieving sister ship HMS Cumberland.
sister species n. Biology each of two or more closely related species; now spec. those that are most closely related to one another at the lowest level of an evolutionary tree or cladogram.
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1831 Gardener's Mag. Dec. 670 It may be gratifying to contrast this rapid rate of growth [of the banana] in Mexico, with that of its sister species the plantain tree..in a British stove.
1869 Amer. Naturalist 3 7 We may, perhaps, find Dicentra Canadensis with its pure white heart-shaped flowers, not less interesting than its more common sister species.
1966 Pacific Insects Monogr. No. 9. 3 As ‘sister-species’ of species a I would consider that species b is most closely related phylogenetically to species a and which together with it forms a monophyletic species group of the lowest rank.
2015 Science 20 Feb. 822/1 Mountain bluebirds colonize these post-fire habitats before their sister species, the western bluebirds.
sister state n. any state regarded as similar to, or having a close relationship with, another or others specified; spec. an American state considered in relation to another.
ΚΠ
1645 E. Waller Wks. 11 The fates Would not be moved for our sister States.
1790 N. Webster in Mass. Mag. 690/1 In the use of the word merchant, the people of Connecticut differ from their sister states and from the English nation.
1863 G. McHenry Position & Duty Pennsylvania 11 Pennsylvania..has in no manner kept pace with her sister States in the attainment of wealth and importance.
1956 Washington Post 11 Nov. a5/1 The Arab states were reported to have taken new steps against Britain and France yesterday in the wake of Anglo-French military action in their sister state of Egypt.
2017 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz.-Mail (Nexis) 10 Oct. 10 a West Virginia fell behind her sister states several years ago, and this trend will continue until we address limitations related to regulations.
sister taxon n. Biology either of two related taxa at the same level of an evolutionary tree or cladogram.
ΚΠ
1970 Taxon 19 233 These two families are conceived as sister taxa evolved together from a common ancestor.
1991 Systematic Zool. 40 140/2 The results of our DNA hybridization studies indicate that..dactylopsilines and petaurines are sister taxa.
2015 Nature 15 Oct. 383/1 Within Gobiconodontidae, Spinolestes is the sister-taxon of the clade Gobiconodon + Repenomamus.
sister tongue n. = sister language n.
ΚΠ
1718 J. Chamberlayne in tr. B. Nieuwentyt Relig. Philosopher I. Ded. p. vj My Author..is rather to be commended for keeping up the Dignity of our Sister-Tongue.
1843 Proc. Philol. Soc. (1844) 1 143 A sister-tongue to those of which the Hebrew is the oldest literary type.
2001 New Hibernia Rev. 5 6 Scottish and Irish Gaelic are sister tongues.
sister tutor n. a nursing sister who teaches trainee nurses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > nurse > [noun] > sister > types of
out-sister1565
sister tutor1918
casualty sister1925
theatre sister1935
1918 Times 5 Oct. 4/3 The Committee of the Nation's Fund for Nurses have established three scholarships for the training of sister tutors at King's College for Women.
1968 R. Rendell Secret House of Death vi. 62 An even temperature, that's one thing my sister tutor always impressed on me.
2009 Econ. & Polit. Weekly 31 Oct. 95/1 Enter the male nurse, who gets appointed as a ‘sister tutor’, and..becomes senior to female sister tutors.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

sisterv.

Brit. /ˈsɪstə/, U.S. /ˈsɪstər/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: sister n.
Etymology: < sister n.
1. transitive. To be a sister to; to make a sister of; to have a relationship like that of a sister or sisters with (a person or thing). Chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > be sister to [verb (transitive)]
sister1609
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xx. 7 Her art sisters the naturall Roses. View more context for this quotation
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VI. lxii. 230 Whose misfortune [is] to be brother'd and sister'd by a couple of creatures, who are not able to comprehend her excellencies.
1854 S. T. Dobell Balder xxiv. 158 Seven snowdrops Sister the pleiads.
1906 S. Phillips Nero ii. 45 I..Who have sistered, wived, and mothered Emperors.
1988 Toronto Star (Nexis) 1 May h1 Here was a man..sistered by four loving blonde long-legged Roedean (private school) girls.
2007 Fortnight May 29/2 Consider our pleasure at this fainter one [sc. a rainbow], sistering its brighter other in the clever sky.
2. transitive. To call (a person) sister; to address as a sister.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > be sister to [verb (transitive)] > call sister
sister1664
1664 T. Killigrew Parsons Wedding ii. iii, in Comedies & Trag. 92 You have got one of the best hiders of such a business in the Town; Lord, how he would Sister you at a Play!
1701 E. Sherburne tr. Seneca Phædra & Hippolytus ii. i. in tr. Seneca Trag. 163 Sister me, or Servant call, But Servant rather.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xxii. 229 How artfully..he reminds her of the brotherly character which he passes under to her! How officiously he sisters her!
1834 M. Edgeworth Helen III. iii. 67 Think what it must be..to be ‘dear sistered’ by such bodies as these in public.
1873 H. E. McBride Comic Dialogues 142 Amaziah. Sister—Miranda. Stop! You've sistered me long enough. I hain't your sister, and wouldn't be for a thousand dollars.
1935 W. D. Steele & N. Mitchell Post Road i. ii. 47 Cartwright. Sister Madison—Emily. (Rising) Don't ‘Sister’ me, till you can stop being an idiot.
2005 Afr. News (Nexis) 10 May African leaders met, hugged, talked, brothered and sistered each other ad infinitum, sans concrete action.
3. transitive. To treat (a person) in a sisterly manner.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > sibling > sister > be sister to [verb (transitive)] > treat as sister
sister1871
sororize1875
1871 A. D. Whitney Real Folks xiv. 179 She could be mothered and sistered, as girls ought to be.
1934 L. S. Jast Shah Jahan ii. iii. 48 I do beseech you, let me go with him If to a prison, there to sister him, Until he needs no sister.
2002 M. Sherrill My Last Movie Star 33 She mothered me, she sistered me. I was drugged and tolerated it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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