sister, noun

Origin:
A translation of words used in Sintu (Bantu) languages for a blood sister, but also for a woman friend or acquaintance.
Especially among speakers of Sintu (Bantu) languages: a courteous term of address or reference to a woman. Cf. sisi sense 1 a, suster.
1902 G.M. Theal Beginning of S. Afr. Hist. 37This statement arose from their attaching the European meaning to the words sister and daughter, which when used by people of the Bantu race applied equally to cousins and nieces on the father’s side.
1977 P.C. Venter Soweto 120The shebeen queens are never married or young...They are always addressed as auntie or sister, with a note of deference.
1978 M.W. Serote Behold Mama, Flowers 40Tell me what are all these brothers and these sisters doing in the streets frozen like that in these akward poses.
1978 A. Elliott Sons of Zulu 167In real life all the boys and girls of contemporary age belonging to the same clan regard each other as brothers and sisters and all the joint parents are their parents. They are called ‘father’ and ‘mother’ as readily as are those who bore them.
1990 Weekend Mail 13 July 5In the old days, you did not need to know who someone bearing your name was or where he or she came from. Anyone who bore that name was your brother or sister.
a courteous term of address or reference to a woman.
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19021990

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sisi, nounn.sit, verb intransitivev.
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