sibling

[sib-ling]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sibling ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a brother or sister.

Anthropology. a comember of a sib, a unilateral descent group thought to share kinship through a common ancestor.

adjective

of or relating to a brother or sister: sibling rivalry.

Origin of sibling

before 1000; late Middle English: relative, Old English; see sib, -ling¹

Related formshalf-sib·ling, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sibling

relative, sister, brother, kinfolk, kin, sib

Examples from the Web for sibling

Contemporary Examples of sibling

Their sibling rivalry drove a significant number of episodes.
Orange Is the New Weeds: The Adventures of Jenji Kohan Across the 8th Dimension
Rich Goldstein, Emily Shire
August 18, 2014
OITNB has so far neglected to grace Alex with a sibling, but Piper has a brother who has figured prominently.
Orange Is the New Weeds: The Adventures of Jenji Kohan Across the 8th Dimension
Rich Goldstein, Emily Shire
August 18, 2014
Had it been a one-two result, could you imagine the sibling rivalry?
What’s a Key to Victory in Sochi? Coming So Close to Defeat.
Kevin Bleyer
February 23, 2014
Motes is not the first sibling of a superstar to struggle and do so publicly.
The Perils of a Famous Family Member
Keli Goff
February 14, 2014
Dr. Gardere suggested that if a sibling has the financial means, he or she should help a family member in need.
The Perils of a Famous Family Member
Keli Goff
February 14, 2014

Historical Examples of sibling

The extended family groupings in terms of matrilocal residence or centered around a sibling group are amorphous but flexible.
Shoshone-Bannock Subsistence and Society
Robert F. Murphy
We saw on our left the large monastery of Delaling, and, a little way off, the Gomba of Sibling.
An Explorer's Adventures in Tibet
A. Henry Savage Landor

British Dictionary definitions for sibling

sibling

noun

a person's brother or sister
(as modifier)sibling rivalry

any fellow member of a sib

Word Origin for sibling

C19: specialized modern use of Old English sibling relative, from sib; see -ling 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sibling

"brother or sister," 1903, modern revival (in anthropology) of Old English sibling "relative, kinsman," from sibb "kinship, relationship; love, friendship, peace, happiness," from Proto-Germanic *sibja- "blood relation, relative," properly "one's own" (cf. Old Saxon sibba, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch sibbe, Old High German sippa, German Sippe, Gothic sibja "kin, kindred"), from PIE s(w)e-bh(o)- (cf. Old Church Slavonic sobistvo, Russian sob "character, individuality"), an enlargement of the root *swe- "self" (see idiom). Related to the second element in gossip.

The word 'sib' or 'sibling' is coming into use in genetics in the English-speaking world, as an equivalent of the convenient German term 'Geschwister' [E.&C. Paul, "Human Heredity," 1930]

In Old English, sibb and its compounds covered grounds of "brotherly love, familial affection" which tended later to lump into love (n.), e.g. sibsumnes "peace, concord, brotherly love," sibbian (v.) "bring together, reconcile," sibbecoss "kiss of peace." Sibship, however, is a modern formation (1908). Sib persisted through Middle English as a noun, adjective, and verb expressing kinship and relationship.

sibling in Medicine

sibling

[sĭb′lĭng]

n.

One of two or more individuals having one or both parents in common; a brother or sister.