Godsibling

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who shares a godparenting connection with another, such as the brother or sister of one's godchild or the child of one's godparent
2. Someone bound to another through the godparent relationship, for example a godchild's brother or sister or the offspring of one's own godparent
3. A relative by godparenting, meaning a sibling of one's godchild or a son or daughter of the person who stood as one's godparent

Etymology: "Godsibling" is a plain compound: "god-" joined to "sibling," and the meaning follows directly from the parts. The "god" here is the godparent sense, the same one found in "godfather" and "godmother," so a godsibling is a child who shares a godparent with another child. The two children are not related by blood, yet they are bonded by a shared sponsor at baptism or a similar naming ceremony, which is why the relationship is named with the family word "sibling." The word itself is a modern formation built from familiar English materials, so there is no older form or dramatic shift in meaning to trace. Its value lies in filling a gap: English has a word for a godchild and for a godparent, but until a term like this existed, the relationship between the children sharing one godparent went unnamed.