sister

The word “sister” means a female sibling; a daughter sharing the same parents as another person. In plain terms, a female sibling, or by extension a woman treated with sibling-like closeness or respect.

“Sister” is pronounced SIHS-tuh (/ˈsɪs.tɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “sister” used in a sentence: “My sister lives just a few streets away.”

“Sister” is a noun.

The word “sister” comes from Old English. From Old English sweostor, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root for "sister" — one of the oldest and most widely shared words in Indo-European languages.

“Sister” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Sister” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a female sibling; a daughter sharing the same parents as another person.

A sibling is any brother or sister; the word is gender-neutral and simply means a child of the same parents. A sister is specifically a female sibling. So every sister is a sibling, but a sibling could equally be a brother. 'Sibling' is the umbrella term, while 'sister' names the gender.

A half-sister shares one biological parent with you, either the same mother or the same father. A step-sister shares no blood at all; she becomes your sister when a parent marries her parent. Half-sisters are linked by birth, while step-sisters are linked only by marriage.

Beyond a full sister, who shares both parents, there are half-sisters sharing one parent, step-sisters joined through a parent's remarriage, and adoptive sisters brought into the family legally. 'Sister-in-law' extends the word by marriage, meaning your spouse's sister or your sibling's wife.

'Sister' is used well beyond blood ties. It can mean a nun in a religious order, a fellow woman expressing solidarity, or, in British hospitals, a senior nurse in charge of a ward. It also describes closely linked things, such as a sister company or a sister city.