sister

sis‧ter S1 W1 /ˈsɪstə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: sweostor]
1. a girl or woman who has the same parents as you ⇨ brother, half-sister, step-sister:
Janet and Abby are sisters.
He has two sisters and a brother.
older/big sister
My older sister is a nurse.
younger/little sister
Where’s your little sister?
She’s my twin sister.
2. sister paper/publication/company etc a newspaper etc that belongs to the same group or organization:
the Daily Post’s sister paper, the Liverpool Echo
3. (also Sister) a ↑nun:
Good morning, Sister Mary.
4. British English (also Sister) a nurse in charge of a hospital ↑ward:
the ward sister
I’m feeling a bit better today, Sister.
5. a word used by women to talk about other women and to show that they have feelings of friendship and support towards them:
We appeal to our sisters all over the world to stand by us.
6. American English spoken a way of talking to or about an African-American woman, used especially by African Americans
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ an older sister (also an elder sister especially British English) He had two older sisters, Karen and Jacqueline.
▪ a big sister (=an older sister) She misses her big sister dreadfully.
▪ a younger sister Mary showed a lot of aggressive behaviour towards her younger sister.
▪ a little/kid sister (=a younger sister) She was very fond of her little sister.
▪ a baby sister (=a sister who is still a baby) He wanted a baby sister.
▪ a twin sister He is devoted to his twin sister.
▪ a half-sister (=a sister with only one parent the same as yours) She doesn't see her half-sister very often.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

sister

sis·ter [sister sisters] [ˈsɪstə(r)] [ˈsɪstər] noun
1. a girl or woman who has the same mother and father as another person
• She's my sister.
• an older/younger sister
• (informal) a big/little/kid sister
• We're sisters.
• Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• My best friend has been like a sister to me (= very close).

2. used for talking to or about other members of a women's organization or other women who have the same ideas, purpose, etc. as yourself

• They supported their sisters in the dispute.

3. Sister (BrE) a senior female nurse who is in charge of a hospital ward

4. Sister a female member of a religious group, especially a nun
• Sister Mary

• the Sisters of Charity

5. (in the US) a member of a sorority (= a club for a group of female students at a college or university)

6. (NAmE, informal) used by black people as a form of address for a black woman

7. (usually used as an adjective) a thing that belongs to the same type or group as sth else
• our sister company in Italy
• a sister ship
Word Origin:
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zuster and German Schwester, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin soror.
Example Bank:
• Carolyn's sorority sisters at Indiana University
• Have you got any brothers and sisters?
• I have no brothers or sisters.
• The girls are so close, they're like sisters.
• a refugee who traced his long-lost sister

• my bratty little sister

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

sister

sister (IN SAME GROUP) /ˈsɪs.təʳ/ US /-tɚ/
adjective [before noun]
belonging to a group of similar and related things, such as businesses, usually owned or operated by the same person or organization:
our sister company in Australia
the US battleship Missouri and her sister ship, the Wisconsin

sister (FEMALE) /ˈsɪs.təʳ/ US /-tɚ/
noun [C]
1 a girl or woman who has the same parents as another person:
Sophie and Emily are sisters.
Emily is Sophie's younger/little/older/big sister.

2 a girl or woman who treats you in the kind way that a sister would:
Lynn's such a good friend - she's like a sister to me.

3 a woman who shares an interest with you, especially that of improving women's rights:
[as form of address] "We must continue the fight, sisters!"

4 US OLD-FASHIONED INFORMAL used to address a woman:
OK, sister, move it!

5 UK a nurse who is in charge of a department of a hospital

6 a female member of a religious group, especially a nun

sisterhood /ˈsɪs.tə.hʊd/ US /-tɚ-/
noun [U]
1 a strong feeling of companionship and support among women who are involved in action to improve women's rights

2 the relationship between sisters:
It was sisterhood that made her care for me as she did.

sisterhood /ˈsɪs.tə.hʊd/ US /-tɚ-/
group noun [C]
a society of women living a religious life

the sisterhood group noun
women involved in action to improve women's rights

sisterly /ˈsɪs.t^əl.i/ US /-tɚ.li/
adjective
feeling or behaving like a sister:
I felt quite sisterly towards him, but I couldn't marry him.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

sister

/sɪstə(r)/
(sisters)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
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...
I didn’t know you had a sister.
N-COUNT: oft poss N
see also half-sister, stepsister

2.
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.
N-COUNT; N-TITLE; N-VOC

3.
A sister is a senior female nurse who supervises part of a hospital. (BRIT)
Ask to speak to the sister on the ward...
Sister Middleton followed the coffee trolley.
N-COUNT; N-TITLE; N-VOC

4.
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 times past.
N-COUNT: usu poss N

5.
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.
ADJ: ADJ n

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

¹sis·ter /ˈsɪstɚ/ noun, pl -ters
1 [count] : a girl or woman who has one or both of the same parents as you
• my little/younger sister
• his big/older sister
• She's my twin sister.
• He has two sisters.
- compare half sister, sister-in-law, stepsister
2 informal
- used when talking to a woman
• Sister, you have got to relax.
• Sister, you don't need him in your life.
3 or Sister [count] : a member of a religious community of women : nun
• The sisters live in the convent.
- often used as a title
• the Sisters of St. Joseph
• Sister Christine
- abbr. Sr.;
4 [count] : a woman who is from the same group or country as you
• her college sorority sisters
• We must support our brothers and sisters fighting overseas.
• She speaks for her Asian sisters.
5 [count] US informal : a black woman - used especially by African-Americans;
6 or Sister [count] chiefly Brit : a nurse in a hospital ward or clinic