sibling

sib·ling
S1I1B3L1I1N1G2
/ˈsɪb.lɪŋ//ˈsɪb.lin/

noun

A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.

“None of my siblings are married yet.”

Similar
sib
OriginOld English sibling →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounsibling (plural siblings)

plural siblings

  1. A person who shares a parent; one's brother or sister who one shares a parent with.

    None of my siblings are married yet.

    1 more example

    She also had one sibling, her younger brother Joshua, who was born a year after her.

    2026 July 29, Nicholas Muhoro, “Amy Billig Vanished While Hitchhiking Through Coconut Grove. Then the Calls Began”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2026
  2. computingA node in a data structure that shares its parent with another node.
  3. biologyThe most closely related species, or one of several most closely related species when none can be determined to be more closely related.

    Bush suggested that this difference might represent a case of chromosomal polymorphism or, more likely, sibling species.

    2015 November 26, Lucie Vaníčková et al., “Current knowledge of the species complex Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae) in Brazil”, in ZooKeys, volume 540, →DOI, pages 211–237
    1 more example

    D. simulans, D. mauritiana and D. sechellia (which we will call “the siblings” when we do not need to distinguish among them) have homosequential polytene chromosome banding patterns differing from those of D. melanogaster by one long inversion on chromosome arm 3R and a few much smaller inversions.

    1990 April 1, P. Hutter et al., “A genetic basis for the inviability of hybrids between sibling species of Drosophila”, in Genetics, volume 124, number 4, pages 909–920

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna person's brother or sister

Similar
sib
Broader
relativerelation
Also see
sib

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishsibling“relative, a relation, kinsman”
  2. Englishsibling

First use appears c. 1903, a modern revival of Old English sibling (“relative, a relation, kinsman”), equivalent to sib + -ling. Compare Middle English siblynges pl, sib, sibbe (“relative; kinsman”), German Sippe. The term apparently meant merely kin or relative until the 20th century when it was applied in a way that aided the study of genetics, which led to its specialized use. For example, the OED has a citation in 1902 in which sibling must be defined for those who do not know the intended meaning.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic شَقِيق, شَقِيقَة
  • شَقِيق (šaqīq)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • شَقِيقَة (šaqīqa)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Bengali সহোদর
  • সহোদর (śohōdor)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Bulgarian брат, сестра
  • брат (brat)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • сестра (sestra)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Catalan germà, germana
  • germàperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • germanaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Chinese Mandarin 兄弟姐妹, 兄弟
  • 兄弟姐妹 (xiōngdì jiěmèi)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 兄弟 (xiōngdì)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 姐妹 (jiěmèi)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 同胞 (tóngbāo)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Czech sourozenec
  • sourozenecperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Danish bror, søster
  • brorperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • søsterperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • søskendeperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Dutch brus, sibling
  • brusperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • siblingperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Esperanto gefrato, gefratoj
  • gefratoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • gefratojperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Estonian õve
  • õveperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Finnish sisarus
  • sisarusperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
French frère et sœur, adelphe
  • frère et sœurperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • adelpheperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • fratrieperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • germainperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • siblingperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • frères et sœursperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • frœurperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
German Geschwisterchen, Geschwisterkind
  • Geschwisterchenperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • Geschwisterkindperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • Bruderperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • Schwesterperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • Geschwisterperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Greek αδέλφι
  • αδέλφι (adélfi)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Hebrew אַחַאי
  • אַחַאיperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Hindi सहोदर
  • सहोदर (sahodar)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Hungarian testvér
  • testvérperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Icelandic systkin
  • systkinperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Indonesian kakak, adik
  • kakakperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • adikperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • saudaraperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Irish siblín, deartháireacha agus/nó deirfiúracha
  • siblínperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • deartháireacha agus/nó deirfiúrachaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Italian fratello, sorella
  • fratelloperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • sorellaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • parenteperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • congiuntoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • consanguineoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • germanoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Japanese 兄弟兄弟姉妹, 同胞
  • 兄弟兄弟姉妹 (kyōdai)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 同胞 (dōhō)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 同胞 (harakara)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Korean 형제, 형제자매
  • 형제 (hyeongje)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • 형제자매 (hyeongjejamae)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Latin germanus, germana
  • germanusperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • germanaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • fraterperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • sororperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Latvian brālis, māsa
  • brālisperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • māsaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Lithuanian brolija
  • brolijaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Malay abang, kakak
  • abangperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • kakakperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • adikperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • ابڠ (older)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • کاکق (older)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • اديق (younger)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Norwegian søsken
  • søskenperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Persian همنیا, همشیره
  • همنیا (ham-niâ)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • همشیره (hamšire)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Polish rodzeństwo
  • rodzeństwoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Portuguese irmão, irmã
  • irmãoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • irmãperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Russian брат, сестра́
  • брат (brat)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • сестра́ (sestrá)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • си́блинг (síbling)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • сибс (sibs)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Slovak súrodenec
  • súrodenecperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Spanish hermano, hermana
  • hermanoperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • hermanaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Swahili ndugu
  • nduguperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Swedish syskon
  • syskonperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Tagalog kapatid, kaka
  • kapatidperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • kakaperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Thai พี่, น้อง
  • พี่ (pîi)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • น้อง (nɔ́ɔng)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • พี่น้อง (pîi-nɔ́ɔng)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Turkish kardeş
  • kardeşperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Ukrainian суро́дженець, родже́нство
  • суро́дженець (suródženecʹ)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • родже́нство (rodžénstvo)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Urdu سہودر
  • سہودر (sahodar)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Vietnamese anh chị em
  • anh chị emperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Welsh sibling, brodyr a/neu chwiorydd
  • siblingperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
  • brodyr a/neu chwioryddperson who shares same parents — see also brother, sister
Yiddish געשוויסטער
  • געשוויסטער (geshvister)person who shares same parents — see also brother, sister

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with sibling

dribblingscribblingnibblingquibblingniblingpiblingtwibling
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

sibling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sibling

MLA

“sibling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sibling. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sibling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sibling.

Source: sibling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.