The Sumerian word NIN (Akkadian pronunciation: EREŠ) which can denote a "queen" or a "priestess".. Many goddesses are called NIN, such as DNIN.GAL "great lady", DÉ.NIN.GAL "lady of the great temple" or DEREŠ.KI.GAL, DNIN.TI.
The compound form NIN.DINGIR (Akkadian entu) "divine lady", "lady of [a] god" denotes a priestess.
The NIN sign is written as MUNUS.TÚG 𒊩𒌆 in archaic cuneiform (as well as in the Codex Hammurabi), the syllable nin on the other hand is spelled as MUNUS.KA 𒊩𒅗 in Assyrian cuneiform. MUNUS.KU = NIN9 𒊩𒆪 has the reading "sister".
Ninsun-(DNIN.SÚN) as the mother of Gilgamesh in the Epic of Gilgamesh-(Standard Babylonian version), appears in 5 of the 12 Chapters (Tablets I, II, III, IV, XII). The other personage using 'NIN' is the god Ninurta-(DNIN.URTA) who appears in Tablet I, and especially the Flood myth of Tablet XI.
Of the 51 uses of the 'nin' (cuneiform), the other major usage is for the Akkadian word eninna–("nin" as in e-nin-na, but also other variants). Eninna is the adverb "Now", but is also conjunctionally-used, or as a segue-form, (a transition form).
The two uses of 'NIN' as the word for 'sister'-(Akk. ahātu), for example is used in Tablet 8 (The Mourning of Enkidu), line 38: