sister

noun

1. Title of respect for an adult female member of a religious order.

   “At the convent, Sister Grace supervises the kitchen.”

   “Please welcome Sister Smith as she moves from her former congregation to her new congregation.”

2. Title of respect for an adult female member of a fraternal/sororal organization, or comrade in a movement, or even a stranger using fictive kin.

   “Sister Huerta was to have been our initial speaker this morning. However, we received word later this morning that Sister Huerta would be unable to attend our convention.”

3. A title used to personify or respectfully refer to concepts or animals.

   “Native American leader Chief Seattle urged ecological responsibility, referring to Brother Eagle and Sister Sky in his purported 1854 speech.”

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ Proto-Indo-European *su-h₁ésh₂-ōr? Proto-Indo-European *swé Proto-Indo-European *-sōr ? Proto-Indo-European *swésōrder. Proto-Germanic *swestēr Proto-West Germanic *swester Old English sweostor Middle English suster English sister Inherited from Middle English suster, from Old English sweostor, from Proto-West Germanic *swester, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr. Doublet of soror. Cognate with Scots sister, syster (“sister”), West Frisian sus, suster (“sister”), Dutch zuster (“sister”), German Schwester (“sister”), Norwegian Bokmål søster (“sister”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish syster (“sister”), Icelandic systir (“sister”), Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍂 (swistar, “sister”), Latin soror (“sister”), Russian сестра́ (sestrá, “sister”), Lithuanian sesuo (“sister”), Albanian vajzë (“girl, maiden”), Sanskrit स्वसृ (svásṛ, “sister”), Persian خواهر (xâhar, “sister”). In standard English, the form with i is due to contamination with Old Norse systir (“sister”). The plural sistren is from Middle English sistren, a variant plural of sister, suster (“sister”); compare brethren. The sense for "Adelpha-genus butterfly" is a semantic loan from translingual Adelpha, itself from Ancient Greek ἀδελφή (adelphḗ, “sister”).

1. To strengthen (a supporting beam) by fastening a second beam alongside it.

   “I’m trying to correct my sagging floor by sistering the joists.”

2. To be sister to; to resemble closely.

   “Deep clerks she dumbs; and with her needle composes Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry, That even her art sisters the natural roses; Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry”