sister

noun sis·ter \ ˈsi-stər \

Definition of sister

1 : a female who has one or both parents in common with another

2 often capitalized

a : a member of a women's religious order (as of nuns or deaconesses); especially : one of a Roman Catholic congregation under simple vows

b : a girl or woman who is a member of a Christian church

3 a : a girl or woman regarded as a comrade

b : a girl or woman who shares with another a common national or racial origin; especially : a black girl or woman

4 : one that is closely similar to or associated with another

sister cities

5 chiefly British : nurse

6 a : girl, woman

b : person —usually used in the phrase weak sister

7 : a member of a sorority

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Examples of sister in a Sentence

The sisters live in the convent.

Recent Examples of sister from the Web

Seeing middle school players in the stands is something the Dal Santo sisters, who have watched Andrean in volleyball since a young age, reflected on after the match.

— robby general, Post-Tribune, "Dal Santo sisters spark Andrean past Christian Academy for first state title," 4 Nov. 2017
McCreery grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina with his sister Ashley and parents Mike and Judy.

— Southern Living, "WATCH: Scotty McCreery On His Southern Upbringing," 3 Nov. 2017
The Hirsch sisters will also see Hathaway Brown on Sunday in the semifinals of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament.

— scott springer, Cincinnati.com, "Two singles, two doubles move to 2nd day at state tennis," 20 Oct. 2017
Mike & Karen Pence (+ brother Greg & sister-in-law Denise) at the Circleville Pumpkin Show this aftn.

— Bloomberg.com, "Mike Pence’s Brother Plans to Run for Congress, AP Reports," 19 Oct. 2017
The sisters had gossiped on daily video calls since Emma emigrated to the United Kingdom five years earlier.

— jeff maysh, The Atlantic, "A Catfishing With a Happy Ending," 19 Oct. 2017
In the scene, Rami Malik—who's working toward his next acting Emmy—delivers a stunning monologue about building a snowman with his sister.

— matt miller, Esquire, "Mr. Robot Might Be the Most Challenging Show on TV Right Now," 19 Oct. 2017
Great title for a documentary that’s winning praise for its fascinating and unblinking portrait of tennis coach/svengali Nick Bollettieri, 86, who coached tennis greats Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Boris Becker and the Williams sisters, among others.

— gary thompson, Philly.com, "Ten must-see movies from the Philadelphia Film Festival," 18 Oct. 2017
This time, Kylie Jenner is the latest sister to mess with everyone.

— jillian selzer, Cosmopolitan, "Kylie Jenner Hides in a Huge Winter Coat For Her Latest Selfie," 13 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sister.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sister

Middle English suster, sister, partly from Old English sweostor and partly from Old Norse systir sister; akin to Latin soror sister, Sanskrit svasṛ

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

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