Sibling

How to spell sibling

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sibling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sibling mean?

1. nounA brother or sister; a person who shares one or both parents with another.

Sibling in a sentence

• Each sibling inherited an equal share of the estate.

• The survey asked whether an older sibling had helped with childcare.

Where does sibling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Old English, where sibling simply meant a relative or kinsman of any kind. It was built from sibb, an old noun meaning kinship, peace, or close relationship, combined with the suffix -ling, which marked a person connected with something. The wider sense faded from English and the word lay almost forgotten for centuries. It was deliberately revived around 1900 by anthropologists and geneticists who needed a single, neutral term for a brother or sister, and that scientific usage carried it back into everyday speech. The old root sibb also survives in the word gossip, which originally meant a godparent, literally a kinsman in God.

How the word is built

• sib (from Old English sibb: kinship, relationship)
• -ling (suffix denoting one connected with)