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sister

 - 6 dictionary results

sis⋅ter

[sis-ter]
–noun
1. a female offspring having both parents in common with another offspring; female sibling.
2. Also called half sister. a female offspring having only one parent in common with another offspring.
3. stepsister.
4. a female friend or protector regarded as a sister.
5. a thing regarded as feminine and associated as if by kinship with something else: The ships are sisters.
6. a female fellow member, as of a church.
7. a female member of a religious community that observes the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
8. British. a nurse in charge of a hospital ward; head nurse.
9. a fellow black woman.
10. a woman who supports, promotes, or participates in feminism.
11. Informal. a form of address used to a woman or girl, esp. jocularly or contemptuously: Listen, sister, you've had enough.
–adjective
12. being or considered a sister; related by or as if by sisterhood: sister ships.
13. having a close relationship with another because of shared interests, problems, or the like: We correspond with school children in our sister city.
14. Biochemistry. being one of an identical pair.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME (n.) < ON systir; c. OE sweoster, D zuster, G Schwester, Goth swistar; akin to Serbo-Croatian sèstra, Lith sesuõ, L soror (< *swesor), OIr siur, Welsh chwaer, Skt svasar sister, Gk éor daughter, niece


sis⋅ter⋅less, adjective
sis⋅ter⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To sister
sis·ter   (sĭs'tər)   
n.  
  1. A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another.

  2. A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically:

    1. A kinswoman.

    2. A woman fellow member, as of a sorority.

    3. A fellow woman.

    4. A close woman friend or companion.

    5. A fellow African-American woman or girl.

    6. A woman who advocates, fosters, or takes part in the feminist movement.

    7. A member of a religious order of women; a nun.

    8. Used as a form of address for such a woman, alone or followed by the woman's name.

  3. Informal Used as a form of address for a woman or girl.

  4. Abbr. Sr. Ecclesiastical

    1. A member of a religious order of women; a nun.

    2. Used as a form of address for such a woman, alone or followed by the woman's name.

  5. Chiefly British A nurse, especially the head nurse in a ward.

  6. One identified as female and closely related to another: "the sisters Death and Night" (Walt Whitman).

adj.  
  1. Related by or as if by sisterhood; closely related: sister ships; sister cities.

  2. Genetics Of or being one of an identical pair: sister chromatids.


[Middle English, from Old Norse systir; see swesor- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
sister

  1. n.
    a (female) friend. (Originally underworld. Sometimes a term of address.) : Come here, sister. I gotta have a word with you.
  2. n.
    a fellow sorority member. : One of my sisters let me borrow her car.
  3. n.
    a fellow feminist. : We can do this thing, sisters, we can do it!

  4. Go to (soul) sister. :
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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(soul) sister

  1. n.
    a black person's female, black friend. (See also sister.) : One of the soul sisters dropped by to talk.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

sister 
O.E. sweostor, swuster, or a Scand. cognate (cf. O.N. systir, Swed. sister, Dan. søster), in either case from P.Gmc. *swestr- (cf. O.S. swestar, O.Fris. swester, M.Du. suster, Du. zuster, O.H.G. swester, Ger. Schwester, Goth. swistar), from PIE *swesor, one of the most persistent and unchanging PIE root words, recognizable in almost every modern I.E. language (cf. Skt. svasar-, Avestan shanhar-, L. soror, O.C.S., Rus. sestra, Lith. sesuo, O.Ir. siur, Welsh chwaer, Gk. eor). Probably from PIE roots *swe- "one's own" + *ser- "woman." For vowel evolution, see bury. Used of nuns in O.E.; of a woman in general from 1906; of a black woman from 1926; and in the sense of "fellow feminist" from 1912.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: sis·ter
Pronunciation: 'sis-t&r
Function: noun
chiefly British : a head nurse in a hospital ward or clinic; broadly : NURSE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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