sisterhood

American  

[sis-ter-hood] / ˈsɪs tərˌhʊd /

noun

1. the state of being a sister.

2. a group of sisters, especially of nuns or of female members of a church.

3. an organization of women with a common interest, as for social, charitable, business, or political purposes.

4. congenial relationship or companionship among women; mutual female esteem, concern, support, etc.

5. Usually the sisterhood. the community or network of women who participate in or support feminism.

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sisterhood British  

/ ˈsɪstəˌhʊd /

noun

1. the state of being related as a sister or sisters

2. a religious body or society of sisters, esp a community, order, or congregation of nuns

3. the bond between women who support the Women's Movement

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Etymology

Origin of sisterhood

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

Example Sentences

In 2014, Rivera-Amador and Hollinquest founded the Radical Monarchs in Oakland — giving girls and gender expansive youth of color ages 8 through 13 a safe space to practice self-love, sisterhood and activism.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

“Kin,” set in the segregated South in the 1950s and ’60s, focuses on the crucial importance of mothering, sisterhood and close female friendships in young women’s lives.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

Intermittently “Ballade” includes a lustrous sisterhood of what seem to be junior nymphs attending their sibling.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025

The actors who play the sisterhood of stylists in ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ sit down for a candid beauty-shop conversation in light of the show’s L.A. premiere at Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

I trusted to sisterhood first and approached the mother with her crying child.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

Related Words

• alliance
• community
• fellowship
• feminism
• sodality
• solidarity
• union