Word: sister Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ Proto-Indo-European *su-h₁ésh₂-ōr? Proto-Indo-European *swé Proto-Indo-European *-sōr ? Proto-Indo-European *swésōrder. Proto-Germanic *swestēr Proto-West Germanic *swester Old English sweostor Middle English suster English sister Inherited from Middle English suster, from Old English sweostor, from Proto-West Germanic *swester, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr. Doublet of soror. Cognate with Scots sister, syster (“sister”), West Frisian sus, suster (“sister”), Dutch zuster (“sister”), German Schwester (“sister”), Norwegian Bokmål søster (“sister”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish syster (“sister”), Icelandic systir (“sister”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂 (swistar, “sister”), Latin soror (“sister”), Russian сестра́ (sestrá, “sister”), Lithuanian sesuo (“sister”), Albanian vajzë (“girl, maiden”), Sanskrit स्वसृ (svásṛ, “sister”), Persian خواهر (xâhar, “sister”). In standard English, the form with i is due to contamination with Old Norse systir (“sister”). The plural sistren is from Middle English sistren, a variant plural of sister, suster (“sister”); compare brethren. The sense for "Adelpha-genus butterfly" is a semantic loan from translingual Adelpha, itself from Ancient Greek ἀδελφή (adelphḗ, “sister”). Pronunciation: /ˈsɪs.tə(ɹ)/, /ˈsɪs.tɚ/ 1. A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling. Example: My sister is always driving me crazy. 2. A female member of a religious order; especially one devoted to more active service; (informal) a nun. Example: Michelle left behind her bank job and became a sister at the local convent. 3. Any butterfly in the genus Adelpha, so named for the resemblance of the dark-colored wings to the black habit traditionally worn by nuns. 4. A senior or supervisory nurse, often in a hospital. Labels: UK 5. Any woman or girl with whom a bond is felt through the same biological sex, gender or common membership in a community, race, profession, religion, organization, or ism. Example: Connie was very close to her friend Judy and considered her to be her sister. Example: Sisters are doing it for themselves / Standing on their own two feet 6. A black woman. Labels: capitalized, slang, sometimes Example: A fly sister rolled in with a suitcase full of hip-hop novels called The Glamorous Life, and an African brother with long dreads wanted to sell them some incense and some fake Jacob watches. Example: The short “naps” of the average Sister do not sway in the wind as that of a blonde. 7. A form of address to a woman. Labels: informal Example: What’s up, sister? Example: "Listen, sister. I've got a job for you." 8. A female fellow member of a religious community, church, trades union etc. Example: Thank you, sister. I would like to thank the sister who just spoke. 9. An entity that has a special or affectionate, non-hierarchical relationship with another. Labels: attributive Example: sister publication Example: sister city 10. A node in a data structure that shares its parent with another node. 11. Something in the same class. Labels: attributive, usually Example: sister ships Example: sister facility 12. One of two tornados that form in close proximity at the same time or in quick succession.