Your sister is a girl or woman who has the same parents as you.
His sister Sarah helped him.
...Vanessa Bell, the sister of Virginia Woolf. [+ of]
I didn't know you had a sister.
2. See also half-sister, stepsister
3. countable noun & title noun
Sister is a title given to a woman who belongs to a religious community.
Sister Francesca entered the chapel.
...the Hospice of the Sisters of Charity at Lourdes. [+ of]
4. countable noun & title noun
A sister is a senior female nurse who supervises part of a hospital.
[British]
Ask to speak to the sister on the ward.
Sister Middleton followed the coffee trolley.
5. countable noun [usually poss NOUN]
You can describe a woman as your sister if you feel a connection with her, for example because she belongs to the same race, religion, country, or profession.
Modern woman has been freed from many of the duties that befell her sisters in timespast.
...our Jewish brothers and sisters.
Synonyms: fellow woman, colleague, associate, comrade More Synonyms of sister
6. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
You can use sister to describe something that is of the same type or is connected in some way to another thing you have mentioned. For example, if a company has a sister company, they are connected.
...the International Monetary Fund and its sister organisation, the World Bank.
...Voyager 2 and its sister ship, Voyager 1.
Synonyms: affiliated, allied, associated, joined More Synonyms of sister
More Synonyms of sister
sister in British English
(ˈsɪstə)
noun
1.
a female person having the same parents as another person
2. half-sister, stepsister
3.
a female person who belongs to the same group, trade union, etc, as another or others
4. informal
a form of address to a woman or girl, used esp by Black people in the US
5.
a senior nurse
6. mainly Roman Catholic Church
a nun or a title given to a nun
7.
a woman fellow member of a Church or religious body
8. (modifier)
belonging to the same class, fleet, etc, as another or others
a sister ship
9. (modifier) biology
denoting any of the cells or cell components formed by division of a parent cell or cell component
sister nuclei
Word origin
Old English sweostor; related to Old Norse systir, Old High German swester, Gothic swistar
sister in American English
(ˈsɪstər)
noun
1.
a woman or girl as she is related to the other children of her parents
sometimes also used of animals
2.
a woman or girl related to one by having a parent in common; half sister
3.
a stepsister
4.
a foster sister
5.
a close female friend who is like a sister
6.
a female fellow member of the same race, church, profession, organization, etc.
sorority sister, soul sister
7. [oftenS-]
a member of a female religious community, usually one with simple vows
8.
something associated with another of the same kind, model, etc.
9. British
a nurse, esp. a head nurse
10. Informal
any woman
often used as a familiar term of address
adjective
11.
related or seeming to be related as sisters
Word origin
ME < ON systir (akin to OE sweoster > dial. suster), akin to Ger schwester < IE *swesor-, sister (> Sans svasar, L soror, OIr siur) < *sewe-, (one's) own, refl. pron. (see suicide) + *sor-, woman: hence, lit., woman of our (family)
Examples of 'sister' in a sentence
sister
I told you last night, I borrowed the money from my sister, it was going to pay my way back home.
Jon Cleary YESTERDAY'S SHADOW (2002)
Obviously, gossip about his sister had traveled faster than news of Sam's shortcomings.
Garth Nix LIRAEL: DAUGHTER OF THE CLAYR (2002)
Tarja's grief was centred on the woman he once believed was his sister.
Jennifer Fallon TREASON KEEP (2002)
He continued, "Dr. Linton was having lunch with her sister.
Karin Slaughter BLINDSIGHTED (2002)
In other languages
sister
British English: sister /ˈsɪstə/ NOUN
Your sister is a girl or woman who has the same parents as you.
My sister is younger than me.
American English: sister
Arabic: أُخْت
Brazilian Portuguese: irmã
Chinese: 姐妹 older sister
Croatian: sestra
Czech: sestra
Danish: søster
Dutch: zus
European Spanish: hermana
Finnish: sisar
French: sœur
German: Schwester
Greek: αδελφή
Italian: sorella
Japanese: 姉妹
Korean: 언니 female’s elder sister
Norwegian: søster
Polish: siostra
European Portuguese: irmã
Romanian: soră
Russian: сестра
Latin American Spanish: hermana
Swedish: syster
Thai: พี่สาวหรือน้องสาว
Turkish: kız kardeş
Ukrainian: сестра
Vietnamese: em gái younger sister
All related terms of 'sister'
baby sister
a younger sister
big sister
an elder sister
half-sister
Someone's half-sister is a girl or woman who has either the same mother or the same father as they have.
kid sister
your younger sister
lay sister
a woman who has taken the vows of a religious order but is not ordained and not bound to divine office
out sister
a member of a community of nuns who performs tasks in the outside world on behalf of the community
sister city
Sister cities are cities in different countries that have formally established a special relationship with each other involving, for example , cultural and sports events.
sob sister
a journalist , esp a woman , on a newspaper or magazine who writes articles of sentimental appeal
ward sister
a senior nurse in charge of a ward
weak sister
a person in a group who is regarded as weak or unreliable
blood sister
a sister by birth
sister school
a university or college which is financially, historically or socially linked to another
nursing sister
a female nurse , sometimes of a high grade
sister-in-law
Someone's sister-in-law is the sister of their husband or wife, or the woman who is married to one of their siblings.
stepsister
Someone's stepsister is the daughter of their stepfather or stepmother.
blood siser
A woman's blood sister is a woman she has sworn to treat as a sister, often in a ceremony which involves mixing a small amount of their blood.