Meanings
plural half sisters · alternative half-sister · alternative halfsister
- hobbiesA female half sibling (same dam, different sires).
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishhalfesister
- Englishhalf sister
From Middle English halfesister, half-suster, half sister, equivalent to half + sister. Compare Dutch halfzus, halfzuster (“half-sister”), German Halbschwester (“half-sister”), Swedish halvsyster (“half-sister”), Icelandic hálfsystir (“half-sister”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian полусестра, полусестра
- полусестра (polusestra)a female half sibling
- полусестра (polusestra)daughter of the same father but a different mother
- полусестра (polusestra)daughter of the same mother but a different father
Catalan germanastra
- germanastraa female half sibling
Chinese Cantonese 同父異母 /同父异母, 同父异母
- 同父異母 /同父异母 (tung⁴ fu⁶ ji⁶ mou⁵)daughter of the same father but a different mother
- 同父异母 (tung⁴ fu⁶ ji⁶ mou⁵)daughter of the same father but a different mother
Chinese Mandarin 同父異母 /同父异母, 同父异母
- 同父異母 /同父异母 (tóngfù yìmǔ)daughter of the same father but a different mother
- 同父异母 (tóngfùyìmǔ)daughter of the same father but a different mother
Danish halvsøster
- halvsøstera female half sibling
Dutch halfzus, halfzuster
- halfzusa female half sibling
- halfzustera female half sibling
Esperanto duonfratino
- duonfratinoa female half sibling
Finnish siskopuoli, sisarpuoli
- siskopuolia female half sibling
- sisarpuolia female half sibling
French demi-sœur
- demi-sœura female half sibling
German Halbschwester
- Halbschwestera female half sibling
Greek ετεροθαλής αδελφή
- ετεροθαλής αδελφή (eterothalís adelfí)a female half sibling
Hindi सौतेली बहन
- सौतेली बहन (sautelī bahan)a female half sibling
Hungarian féltestvér
- féltestvéra female half sibling
Icelandic hálfsystir
- hálfsystira female half sibling
Irish leathdheirfiúr, leasdeirfiúr
- leathdheirfiúra female half sibling
- leasdeirfiúra female half sibling
Italian sorellastra, mezza sorella
- sorellastraa female half sibling
- mezza sorellaa female half sibling
Japanese 腹違い, 畑違い
- 腹違い (harachigai)daughter of the same father but a different mother
- 畑違い (hatakechigai)daughter of the same father but a different mother
- 異腹daughter of the same father but a different mother
- 異母 (ibo)daughter of the same father but a different mother
Latin semisoror, soror consanguineus
- semisorora female half sibling
- soror consanguineusdaughter of the same father but a different mother
- soror agnatadaughter of the same father but a different mother
- agnatadaughter of the same father but a different mother
- uterinadaughter of the same mother but a different father
- uterina sorordaughter of the same mother but a different father
Lithuanian įseserė
- įseserėa female half sibling
Norwegian Bokmål halvsøster
- halvsøstera female half sibling
Polish siostra przyrodnia
- siostra przyrodniaa female half sibling
Portuguese meia-irmã
- meia-irmãa female half sibling
Romanian soră vitregă
- soră vitregăa female half sibling
Russian единокровная сестра
- единокровная сестра (jedinokrovnaja sestra)daughter of the same father but a different mother
Scottish Gaelic leth-phiuthar
- leth-phiuthara female half sibling
Spanish media hermana, hermanastra
- media hermanaa female half sibling
- hermanastraa female half sibling
Swedish halvsyster, halvsyrra
- halvsystera female half sibling
- halvsyrraa female half sibling
Urdu سوتیلی بہن
- سوتیلی بہن (souteli behan)a female half sibling
Vietnamese cùng cha khác mẹ
- cùng cha khác mẹdaughter of the same father but a different mother
Welsh hanner chwaer
- hanner chwaera female half sibling
Cite this entry
half sister. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20sister
“half sister.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20sister. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “half sister,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/half%20sister.
Source: half sister on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.