# sibling



## JLanguage

How would you translate "sibling"?

Thanks,
-Jonathan.​


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## amikama

JLanguage said:
			
		

> How would you translate "sibling"?
> 
> ​



אח or אחות (Hebrew doesn't have one word for both brothers and sisters). 


He has five siblings (I don't know how many brothers and sisters):
יש לו חמישה אחים ואחיות

He has five siblings (say, three brothers and two sisters):​יש לו שלושה אחים ושתי אחיות


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## utopia

If I'm not mistaken then it can be translated as צאצאים too!

צֶאֱצָא= offspring (read - tse-etsa)


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## lonelyheartsclubband

שלום!
אני חולק עליך, utopia
, כי צאצאים משמעו "ילדים".
דוגמא: לי יש חמישה צאצאים, המשפט הזה לא אומר שיש לי חמישה אחים או אחיות.
תודה
​


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## elroy

lonelyheartsclubband said:
			
		

> שלום!
> אני חולק עליך, utopia
> , כי צאצאים משמעו "ילדים".
> דוגמא: לי יש חמישה צאצאים, המשפט הזה לא אומר שיש לי חמישה אחים או אחיות.
> תודה
> ​


 
You are right.  "Siblings" refers to brothers and sisters, not children.


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## utopia

well according to my Oxford dictionary sibling is "one of two or more persons having the same parents" but when you think of it, it's possible to look at siblings from the angle of parents: parents are those who are shared by the siblings - thus children.


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## elroy

utopia said:
			
		

> well according to my Oxford dictionary sibling is "one of two or more persons having the same parents" but when you think of it, it's possible to look at siblings from the angle of parents: parents are those who are shared by the siblings - thus children.


 
Not really.  A "sibling" is "one of" a group.  What is that group?  A group of people that share parents.  Thus, you and your brother are by definition "siblings."  "Children" requires further information.  You cannot just be "children" (as in "offspring" not "little people"); you are _somebody's _children, whereas you can just be siblings.  The word refers to the relationship between those with common parents, not between them and their parents.

Interesting.  I would never have thought that the dictionary definition would be so ambiguous.


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## utopia

if I say - we're the siblings of the same family - can't you translate it as:

אנחנו הצאצאים של אותה משפחה?


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## amikama

utopia said:
			
		

> if I say - we're the siblings of the same family - can't you translate it as:
> 
> אנחנו הצאצאים של אותה משפחה?


Siblings share the same parents, but צאצאים share any common ancestors -- not necessarily parents, but also grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, etc. The statement אנחנו הצאצאים של אותה משפחה could be said by cousins, for example. And thus this statement isn't equivalent to "we're the siblings of the same family".


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## elroy

Not to mention the fact that no one would say that.  It's redundant because siblings are members of the same family by definition.  You simply say "we're siblings."

-How are you related to that girl and that guy?
-Oh, we're siblings.

-How are you related to those two boys?
-Oh, we're brothers.

In other words, "siblings" is just a shorthand way to say "brothers and sisters."


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## utopia

Ok, if I find anything else about this I'll post it.Thanks for the comments.


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