See Also: SISTER(law)
sister(1)(dictionary)
sister(medicine)
sister(2)(dictionary)
sister-in-law(dictionary)
sister(dictionary)
sister chromatid(medicine)
half-sister(dictionary)
Sister Ship - Sailing(gambling)
Sister Joseph's nodule(medicine)

sister(1) (iou)



sister noun & adjective.
[Old English sweoster, swuster, swyster, suster = Old Frisian swester, suster, sister, Old Saxon swestar, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch suster (Dutch zuster), Old High German swester (German Schwester), Gothic swistar, from Germanic from Indo-European, repr. in Latin soror.]
A. noun.
A female related to one or more others (male or female) by having the same parents or by having one parent in common. OE.
adoptive sister, foster sister, full sister, half-sister, stepsister, etc.
J. Cheever We are four children; there is my sister Diana and the three men.
Also used preceding a name and as a form of address or reference.
a. A woman who is a close friend; a female fellow citizen or creature; a female of the same race, colour, class, profession, etc., a fellow female member of a trade union; a female associate or equal, a fellow feminist. OE.
Ramparts Our sisters in Vietnam have taught us many lessons.
b. A female member of a religious order, society, or sect; spec. a nun. Also (gen.), a female fellow Christian. LME.
Sir W. Scott Sister Clare.., As yet a novice unprofess'd. Catholic Herald The Hospice..is..under the management of the Irish Sisters of Mercy. Evangelical Times Countless missionary sisters..who faithfully serve the church.
c. A usu. senior female nurse, esp. one in charge of a hospital ward. M19.
C. Aird Sister Casualty..would ring down to the police station. Nursing Sister accompanying the consultant on the ward round.
d. A (male) fellow homosexual. slang (orig. US). M20.
Used as a form of address to a woman. Now colloq. ME.
An identical, similar, or related thing; a counterpart. ME.
F. O'Connor 'Give me one..,' she said, holding out the money...'A buck fifty, sister,' he said.
b. Either of the cheeks of a cider-press. E19.
Phrases: full sister: see FULL adjective. lay sister: see LAY adjective. Seven Sisters: see SEVEN adjective. sister german: having the same parents. Sister of Mercy: see MERCY noun. sisters under the skin: see SKIN noun. sister uterine: having the same mother only. the three sisters, the sisters Mythology the three goddesses of destiny, the fates. uterine sister = sister uterine above. weak sister: see WEAK adjective. weird sisters: see WEIRD adjective.
b. adjective. That is a sister; belonging to the same group, of the same type or origin, fellow. M17.
Special collocations & comb.: sister-block Nautical: with two sheaves, one below the other. sister cell Biology either of two cells produced by the division of an existing cell. sister chromatid Biology either of a pair of identical chromatids held together at the centromere. Sister Dora [from Dorothy ('Dora') Pattison (1832-78), a famous nurse] Hist. a nurse's cap tied under the chin. sister-hook Nautical either of two hooks fitting together to make a ring. sister-in-law, pl. sisters-in-law, (a) the sister of one's husband or wife; (b) the wife of one's brother(-in-law). sister keelson Nautical either of two additional strengthening keelsons along the bottom of a ship. sister nucleus Biology (a) either of two nuclei produced by the division of an existing nucleus; (b) either of two nuclei which fuse together in an autogamous unicellular organism. sister ship: built to the same design as another. sisters thread Hist. bleached thread. sister tutor a nursing sister who teaches trainee nurses. sister-wife: who is the sister of her husband.
sisterless adjective M19.
sisterlike adverb & adjective like or resembling (that of) a sister L16.
sistership noun (a) sisterhood M19.