Learn English – the original connection between “nurse” and “sister”

etymologysynonyms

In Hebrew, the difference between the words "Sister" and "Brother" is that "Sister" has an additional suffix, as might be expected given the structure of the language. Also, the Hebrew word for a female nurse and the word for "Sister" are the same word, and likewise for a male nurse and the word for "Brother".

These are three things I've been wanting to know and haven't found any conclusive information about:

  1. It occurred to me that in UK English, "Sister" is another term for nurse (a female one I guess). What about a male nurse? Would he be called a brother, a sister or a nurse? The uncertainty indicates, for me, a rather archaic background (which I think is associated with different gender roles).

  2. What are the roots of referring to a nurse as "sister"? This could shed light on the previous question. It sounds very biblical to me.

I would really appreciate perspectives on this topic.

Best Answer

Yes, nursing as a career has religious origins and, until fairly recently, nurses were generally nuns - sisters.

Take a look at the history of nursing on Wikipedia:

From the earliest times most cultures produced a stream of nurses dedicated to service on religious principles. Both Christendom and the Muslim World generated a stream of dedicated nurses from their earliest days. In Europe before the foundation of modern nursing, Catholic nuns and the military often provided nursing-like services.[2] It took until the 20th century for nursing to become a secular profession.

Incidentally I find your question interesting - I assumed this was common knowledge as this is still well within living memory - my own grandmother is only 71 and she has often shared her recollections of the 'strict' nuns on the maternity wards when she had her children. It's odd to think that the origins of words like this are slipping out of general knowledge and into history.

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