sororal, a.
(səˈrɔərəl)
[f. L. soror sister + -al1. Cf. F. sororal.]
1. By one's sister; on a sister's side. rare— 1.
| 1654 Vilvain Theorem. Theol. viii. 212 Master John Down a..sororal Nephew to Bishop Juel. |
2. That is a sister. rare.
| 1819 Lamb Lett. (1837) II. 55 How do you all do, amanuenses both—marital and sororal? |
3. a. Of or pertaining to, characteristic of, a sister or sisters; sisterly.
| 1858 Chambers's Jrnl. IX. 239 Independent of either mother or sister—bound by no authority to either, except..filial and sororal affection. 1869 Miss Mulock Woman's Kingd. III. 146 To see into what the sororal bond can degenerate, under given circumstances. 1838 Sir W. R. Hamilton in R. P. Graves Life (1885) II. 270 And Ladies,..With love maternal, or sororal, view Thy gentleness. |
b. sororal polygyny (Anthrop.), in some polygamous kinship systems, the custom whereby the first wife's sister(s) are preferred as secondary wives.
| 1952 A. R. Radcliffe-Brown Struct. & Funct. in Primitive Soc. iii. 67 Sororal polygyny (marriage with two or more sisters). 1971 P. B. Hammond Introd. Cultural & Soc. Anthrop. vi. 159/2 Sometimes the desirability of a man's marrying his wife's sister is stressed, a usage referred to as sororal polygyny. 1977 C. R. & M. Ember Cultural Anthrop. (ed. 2) viii. 154/2 Jealousy..seems to be lessened if one man is married to two or more sisters (sororal polygyny). Ibid., The Crow Indians practice sororal polygyny, and co-wives usually share the same tepee. |