Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete or dialectal plural of sister.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun plural obsolete Sisters.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic Plural form of sister.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English sistren, variant plural of sister, suster ("sister"), equivalent to sister +‎ -en. Compare brethren.

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Examples

  • I wasn't sure whether or not "sistren" worked or had been used by anyone, so I googled it, and it totally is a word!

    word tidbits willowfagan 2008

  • While I'm not typically one of those people who second-guess my own or other people's strategic decisions when things aren't going well, I have a duty to my community, my gay brethren (and "sistren"?), and myself to point to what I believe are our obvious missteps in the effort to advance our cause.

    Gary Cohan: Premature Emancipation? A Pragmatist's View of the Gay Marriage Struggle 2008

  • Among my brethren and sistren in incubation I count the folks working at places like idealab, betaworks, alleycorp, as well as certain current and former university venture lab specialists I hold in high esteem.

    Dave Lerner: I Am Incubator Dave Lerner 2011

  • Among my brethren and sistren in incubation I count the folks working at places like idealab, betaworks, alleycorp, as well as certain current and former university venture lab specialists I hold in high esteem.

    Dave Lerner: I Am Incubator Dave Lerner 2011

  • I see many of the brethren and the sistren are in the same place I was the other night, when Tatyana commented on my gloom.

    The calm before the storms 2010

  • Lo, Pythonic brethren and sistren sic, our sacred fools are back, bearing sumptuous gifts for the discerning comedic and musical connoisseur.

    Gregory Weinkauf: Not the Messiah : Monty Python Strikes Again! Gregory Weinkauf 2010

  • Lo, Pythonic brethren and sistren (sic), our sacred fools are back, bearing sumptuous gifts for the discerning comedic and musical connoisseur.

    Gregory Weinkauf: Not the Messiah : Monty Python Strikes Again! 2010

  • And you're right about our double-X-chromosome sistren, too.

    WITBD? Edwards or Spitzer? 2008

  • Lo, Pythonic brethren and sistren (sic), our sacred fools are back, bearing sumptuous gifts for the discerning comedic and musical connoisseur.

    Gregory Weinkauf: Not the Messiah: Monty Python Strikes Again! 2010

  • So, I was writing, and the word "brethren" seemed to fit the flow of the character's speech, but I thought, "Well, the people she's talking about aren't all men," so I wrote "brethren and sistren".

    word tidbits willowfagan 2008

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