Father and mother are to parents what brother and sister are to which gender neutral noun? [closed]
Looking for a word that denotes both brothers and sisters without gender connotations (gender neutral), in a similar fashion as parents for father and mother.
Solution 1:
It sounds like you're looking for one of siblings (as in brothers and sisters), offspring, or children (as in sons and daughters).
Sibling (OED):
Each of two or more children or offspring having one or both parents in common; a brother or sister.
Possibly sib (OED):
chiefly Zoology A brother or sister; a sibling.
Solution 2:
In my opinion, the answer siblings seems to be the most terse yet adequate way to express this phrase. Here are my reasons:
- Siblings denote live, closely related beings. However, there is a glitch! Mother and father are not genetically related, while brother and sister denote genetic relationship. Possibly a more accurate, yet less popular, answer might be family members.
- Connotatively, a better descriptive sentence might be “Aunt and uncle are to family as brother and sister are to siblings”. Or “Mother and father are to family as brother and sister-in-law are to marriage”.