352: Sistren Nov 25, 2015

'Sistren', unlike 'bretheren' by the middle of the 16th century had fallen out of use. The reason for this is that when the word 'brothers' was beginning to be used in most contexts, 'bretheren' was still the plural form of 'brother' in religious contexts, whereas there was not any need for 'sistren'. There has been a recent revitalization of the word 'sistren' meaning 'fellow women' but this use is not yet well established in standard English.