Etymograph

English

sistern

Sistern comes from Middle English sisterne.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sisterne1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1896sistern1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sistern
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Ernest Emory Russell, The Reason why: A Story of Fact and Fiction: “But, my dear brothern an' sistern, they hain't no…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sisterneWiktionary, English sistern
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1896sisternWiktionary, English sistern. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Ernest Emory Russell, The Reason why: A Story of Fact and Fiction: “But, my dear brothern an' sistern, they hain't no…”

Formed from sister + -en

Proto-Indo-European *swésōr ‘sister’

Proto-Germanic *swestēr ‘sister’

Proto-West Germanic *swester ‘sister’

Old English sweostor ‘sister’

Middle English suster ‘sister’

English sister

The story

From Middle English sisterne, systerne, sistren, sustren, sustern, equivalent to sister + -en; or alternatively modelled after brethren.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Middle English sisterne

Today it means

noun —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sistern”. 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 / Middle English sisterne / sistern

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