Sibships

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Groups of siblings born to the same parents considered collectively ; families or sets of brothers and sisters in a household
2. Collections of children sharing one or both parents, viewed as sibling units; kin groups defined by common parentage
3. Assemblies of related brothers and sisters forming family units; aggregates of individuals connected through shared parentage

Etymology: "Sibships" is the plural of "sibship," a word built from two much older English parts. "Sib" comes from Old English "sibb," meaning kinship or relationship, and it is a relative of "gossip," which once meant a godparent (literally a "god-sib"). The suffix "-ship" descends from Old English "-scipe," which marked a state, condition or quality, as in "friendship" or "hardship." Put together, "sibship" means the condition or state of being siblings, and the plural form picks out separate sets of siblings, each a distinct kin group under one roof or one parent. The word is a plain compound of "sib" and "-ship" with no foreign borrowing, so its interest lies mostly in the surprising company "sib" keeps: the same root that gives us a sibling also gives us a chatterer, through the older sense of a godparent who was a close relation.

Synonyms: siblings, brotherhoods, sisterhoods, families, kinships

Antonyms: strangers, outsiders, nonrelatives, aliens, foreigners