Sister in Malayalam
The neutral word for sister is സഹോദരി (sahodari), a Sanskrit term that simply means a female sibling. It is what you write on a form or say when the age of the sister does not matter. In conversation Malayalis almost always reach for the age-specific words instead, since Malayalam prefers to mark elder from younger.
Sister, a female sibling, called chechi when elder and anujathi when younger.
എന്റെ സഹോദരി ഡോക്ടറാണ്.
ente sahodari doktaraanu.
My sister is a doctor.
All Malayalam words for “sister”
- സഹോദരി (sahodari) — Sister, a female sibling, called chechi when elder and anujathi when younger.
- ഓപ്പോള് (oppol) — Sister.
- അക്കന് (akkan) — Elder sister, wife of elder brother.
- അമ്മായി (ammayi) — Aunt, father's sister.
- ഇളയമ്മ (ilayamma) — Mother's younger sister.
- ചെറിയമ്മ (cheriyamma) — Mother's younger sister, step- mother.
- പിന്ന (pinna) — Plaited hair, younger sister.
- മൂത്ത (moottha) — Older, elder, greater in age; used especially of an elder brother or sister. For an older thing Malayalam says pazhaya.
- സഹോദരസ്ഥാപനം (sahodara sthaapanam) — Sister institution.
ഓപ്പോള് (oppol) is a regional word for elder sister heard mainly in northern Kerala and among Muslim families, while അക്കന് (akkan) covers an elder sister or an elder brother's wife; അമ്മായി (ammayi) is an aunt and does not mean sister at all.
Common questions
How do you say sister in Malayalam?
സഹോദരി (sahodari) is the general word; in speech people name the sister by age instead of using one blanket term.
Why are there so many entries here?
Malayalam splits the idea by seniority and region, so several of the candidates are elder-sister words rather than synonyms of the plain noun.