Etymograph

English

sister

Sister comes from Middle English suster, from Old English sweostor, from Proto-Germanic *swestēr, from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swésōr‘sister’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swestēr‘sister’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swester‘sister’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweostor‘sister’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suster‘sister’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608sister

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swésōr‘sister’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swestēr‘sister’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swester‘sister’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweostor‘sister’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suster‘sister’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1607–1608sister

Earliest quotation: c. 1607–1608, William Shakespeare, The Late: “Deep clerks she dumbs; and with her needle composes…”

The story

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”).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swésōr

cousin, sorority, 9 more

Today it means

noun A daughter of the same parents as another person; a female sibling.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swésōr / sister

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