sisterhood

[sis-ter-hoo d]

See more synonyms for sisterhood on Thesaurus.com

noun

the state of being a sister.
a group of sisters, especially of nuns or of female members of a church.
an organization of women with a common interest, as for social, charitable, business, or political purposes.

congenial relationship or companionship among women; mutual female esteem, concern, support, etc.
Usually the sisterhood. the community or network of women who participate in or support feminism.

Origin of sisterhood

First recorded in 1350–1400, sisterhood is from the Middle English word sosterhode. See sister, -hood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sisterhood

sorority, unity, sodality, friendship, sisterly

Examples from the Web for sisterhood

Contemporary Examples of sisterhood

They are now in essence a sisterhood joined together by a vile incident.
Here’s What She’d Tell Bill Cosby Today
Dean Obeidallah
December 9, 2014
And the negative reaction to it was surprising because it really seemed to prove your point about the lack of “sisterhood.”
Shailene Woodley on ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ That Nasty 'Time' Piece, and the F-Word
Marlow Stern
June 2, 2014
Over dinner in Beverly Hills recently, the sisterhood was palpable.
Push Girls on Sundance: Summer’s Most Surprising Show
Maria Elena Fernandez
May 31, 2012
Excerpted from Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee.
My Vanished Liberia
Leymah Gbowee
October 7, 2011
Amy Siskind on how the most powerful woman in politics betrays the sisterhood.
Nancy Pelosi, Feminist Nightmare
Amy Siskind
November 20, 2009

Historical Examples of sisterhood

"She never missed before," says a knitting-woman of the sisterhood.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
There is a little house close by the Sisterhood where she and the boy could live.
The Coryston Family
Mrs. Humphry Ward
But we have not found any lack of money among the Sisterhood.
Lotus Buds
Amy Carmichael
They have banded themselves into a Sisterhood, and christened our clergy-house a 'Settlement.'
The Christian
Hall Caine
But is accomplished at the expense of the sisterhood of women.
Where Angels Fear to Tread
E. M. Forster

British Dictionary definitions for sisterhood

sisterhood

noun

the state of being related as a sister or sisters
a religious body or society of sisters, esp a community, order, or congregation of nuns
the bond between women who support the Women's Movement

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 sisterhood

"state of being a sister," late 14c., from sister + -hood. Meaning "a society of sisters" (usually a religious order) is from 1590s; sense of "women having some common characteristic or calling" is from c.1600.