Etymograph

English

sisterhood

Sisterhood comes from Middle English susterhede ‘the concept of sisterhood’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swésōr.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swésōr1‘sister’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swestēr1‘sister’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swester1‘sister’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweostor1‘sister’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suster2‘a sister or step-sister’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500susterhede3‘the concept of sisterhood’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1975sisterhood3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English suster
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English susterhede
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English sisterhood
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1975, Eleanor Blau, Feminists Decry the Role Of Women in Jewish Life: “In contrast, she said, women join sisterhoods and do…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swésōrWiktionary, Middle English suster‘sister’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*swestērWiktionary, Middle English suster‘sister’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*swesterWiktionary, Middle English suster‘sister’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sweostorWiktionary, Middle English suster‘sister’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500susterWiktionary, Middle English susterhede‘a sister or step-sister’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500susterhedeWiktionary, English sisterhood‘the concept of sisterhood’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1975sisterhoodWiktionary, English sisterhood. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1975, Eleanor Blau, Feminists Decry the Role Of Women in Jewish Life: “In contrast, she said, women join sisterhoods and do…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *swésōr ‘sister’

cousin, sorority, 9 more

Today it means

noun The state, or kinship of being sisters.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sisterhood”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English suster, Middle English susterhede. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *swésōr / sisterhood

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