English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] 1903, modern revival of Old English sibling ( “ relative, a relation, kinsman ” ) , equivalent to sib -ling Middle English sib sibbe ( “ relative; kinsman ” ) . The term apparently meant merely kin or relative until the 20th century when its necessity for the study of genetics led to its specialized use. For example, the OED has a 1903 citation in which "sibling" must be defined for those who don't know the intended meaning.
"1903 K. PEARSON in Biometrika II. 369 These [calculations] will enable us..to predict the probable character in any individual from a knowledge of one or more parents or brethren (‘siblings’, = brothers or sisters)." ("Sibling," OED.)
Pronunciation [ edit ] sibling (plural siblings
A person who shares a parent ; one's brother or sister .
None of my siblings are married yet.
Derived terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ]
person who shares same parents
Arabic: شَقِيق (ar) m ( šaqīq ) , شَقِيقَة f ( šaqīqa )
Azeri: qardaş (az)
Balinese: adi ( younger )
Banjarese: dangsanak
Bengali: সহোদর ( sôhodôr )
Catalan: germà (ca) m germana (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 兄弟姐妹 ( xiōngdì jiěmèi ) , 兄弟 (zh) ( xiōngdì ) ( brother(s) ) 姐妹 (zh) ( jiěmèi ) ( sister(s) ) 同胞 (zh) ( tóngbāo )
Min Nan: 兄弟姊妹 (zh-min-nan) ( hiaⁿ-tī-chí-mōe, hiaⁿ-tī-chí-moāi )
Czech: sourozenec (cs) m
Danish: bror (da) c søster (da) c søskende (da) c pl
Dutch: brus (nl) , broer /broeder m zus /zuster f
Esperanto: gefrato gefratoj (eo) pl
Ewe: nɔvi tsɛ (younger sibling )
Faroese: systkin (fo) n pl
Fijian: taci ( younger )
Finnish: sisarus (fi)
French: frère et sœur m , pl fratrie (fr) f
Georgian: დედმამიშვილი ( dedmamišvili )
German: Geschwisterchen (de) n Geschwisterkind (de) n Bruder (de) ( male sibling, brother ) Schwester (de) ( female sibling, sister ) Geschwister (de) pl
Greek: αδέλφι (el) ( adélfi )
Hindi: सहोदर (hi) m ( sahodar )
Hungarian: testvér (hu)
Icelandic: systkin (is) n pl
Ido: frato (io)
Indonesian: kakak (id) ( older ) adik (id) ( younger ) saudara (id) ( regardless of age )
Iranun: ari ( younger ) dadi' ( younger )
Italian: fratello (it) m sorella (it) f parente congiunto (it) m consanguineo (it)
Japanese: 兄弟 (ja) ( きょうだい, kyōdai ) 兄弟姉妹 (ja) ( きょうだいしまい, kyōdai shimai ) , 同胞 (ja) ( どうほう, dōhō )
Javanese: ari ( younger )
Kongo: lêki yaya
Korean: 형제 (ko) ( hyeongje ) (兄弟 (ko) ), 형제자매 ( hyeongjejamae )
Lao: ອ້າຽນ້ອຽ ( 'āi nǭi ) , ອ້າຍນ້ອງ ( 'āi nǭng )
Latvian: brālis (lv) m māsa (lv) f
Lithuanian: brolija f
Lojban: tunba
Malay: abang (ms) ( older, male ) kakak (ms) ( older ) adik (ms) ( younger )
Jawi: ابڠ ( older, male ) کاکق ( older ) اديق ( younger )
Low German: Bölkenkind n
Minangkabau: dunsanak
Navajo: bił hajííjééʼ pl ( blood siblings sharing the mother ) hakʼis ( same sex as you ) halah ( opposite sex from you )
Norwegian: søsken (no) n
Persian: همنیا ( ham-niâ )
Polish: rodzeństwo (pl) n
Portuguese: irmão (pt) , irmã (pt)
Russian: брат (ru) m ( brat ) ( brother ) сестра́ (ru) f ( sestrá ) ( sister ) си́блинг (ru) m ( síbling ) ( neologism, rare ) сибс (ru) m ( sibs )
Slovak: súrodenec m
Slovene: sorojenec m
Spanish: hermano (es) m hermana (es) f
Swahili: ndugu (sw) class 9 /0
Swedish: syskon (sv) n
Tatar: кардәш (tt) ( qardäş )
Telugu: తోబుట్టువు (te) ( tōbuṭṭuvu )
Thai: พี่ (th) ( pîi ) (older), น้อง (th) ( nɔ́ɔng ) (younger), both often used loosely for non-relatives, พี่น้อง (th) ( pîi-nɔ́ɔng )
Turkish: kardeş (tr)
Ukrainian: суро́дженець m ( suródženecʹ ) , родже́нство n ( rodžénstvo )
Urdu: سہودر m ( sahodar )
Vietnamese: anh chị em
Volapük: ( ♂♀ ) gem (vo) , ( ♂ ) higem (vo) , ( ♀ ) jigem (vo)
Waray-Waray: bug-to
West Coast Bajau: adi' ( younger )
