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Quotes for the quote god, citations for the citation throne.

Codex: Sisters of Battle, 1997.Pg. 35The Sisterhood is most commonly associated with the Battle Sisters of the Orders Militant, but this is not its only role in the Imperium. There are three other major Orders of the Adepta Sororitas and many others numbering perhaps only a hundred or so individuals each.
[...]
When Sebastian Thor ascended to the position of Ecclesiarchy there were roughly 4,000 Daughters of the Emperor under his command. [...] With recruits passing through the hands of the Schola Progenium once again, the Adepta Sororitas' ranks soon grew to over 10,000 fighers [...]
[...]
Two and a half thousand years later, two more orders were created by Deacis VI (the Orders of the Bloody Rose and Sacred Rose) and the Convent buildings were extended to accommodate almost 15,000 warriors each. In recent years, the number of the Militant Orders' members has declined slightly and each Order now numbers between 3,000 and 4,000 Battle Sisters, of which perhaps 500-750 will be trained as Seraphim. There warriors are spread throughout the galaxy in various battle zones and on extended tours of duty. The size of an Order waxes and wanes irregularly, depending on the quality of recruits available and battle losses. On occasion an Order may number no more than a few hundred warriors, all fighting the enemies of the Emperor, while at other times it may reach a peak of six or seven thousand warriors, with much of the Order fighting in distant wars but still leaving a reserve of several thousand Battle Sisters and Seraphim that can be despatched if needed.

Codex: ArmageddonForce Dispositions in the Third Armageddon War ADEPTA SORORITAS
Order of Our Martyed Lady . . . . . Equiv. 3 Companies
Order of the Argent Shroud . . . . Equiv. 7 Companies

Codex: Witch HuntersPg. 6As numbers within the Orders Militant waxed and waned, varying from a couple of thousand warriors to many thousands, the subsidiary convents began to take on an importance all their own. [...] Though the original six Orders are by far the most numerous and active of the Orders Militant, the new Lesser Orders Militant, or Orders Minoris, became especially useful in the frequent purity sweeps and pogroms instituted by the Witch Hunters.

Codex: Eye of TerrorForce Dispositions at the Outset of the Thirteenth Black Crusade of Abaddon the DespoilerRECORDED ADEPTA SORORITAS
Greater Orders:
Order of the Bloody Rose . . . . . . . . .6 Preceptories
Order of the Ebon Chalice . . . . . . . .4 Preceptories
Order of Our Martyred Lady . . . . . . 5 Preceptories
Lesser Orders
Order of the Ermine Mantle . . . . . . 3 Missions
Order of the Wounded Heart . . . . 1 Commandery
{Nb. Preceptory = "up to 1,000 Battle Sisters", Commandery = "up to 200 Battle Sisters", Mission = "a number of squads". Ref; Codex: Witch Hunters, Pg. 11}

Warhammer: 40,000 main rulebook, 5th edition.Pg. 120There are three major Orders of Adepta Sororitas, the fighting strength of each numbering several thousand warriors, as well as many lesser sisterhoods comprised of around a hundred or so Battle Sisters. An Orders warriors rarely fight as a unit, but instead are commonly spread throughout the galaxy in various battle zones.
{Nb. "Adepta Sororitas" is here used to mean "Battle Sisters of the Orders Militant"}

White Dwarf #380, Chapter Approved: Sisters of BattlePg. 92The Orders Minoris vary in size, and though some only number as few as a hundred or so Battle Sisters[...]

That's all the information I could find putting numbers to the Sisters of Battle within GW material.

Must of the fuss over the 5E rulebook quote is that it claims there are only three major Orders Militant. The 2E Codex: Sisters of Battle claims there are four "major Orders of the Adepta Sororitas", but lists them as the Orders Militant, Orders Hospitaller, Orders Dialogus and Orders Famulous (pg. 35-36). The 5E rulebook is only describing orders within the Orders Militant, and as there are 6 Orders Militant (the Orders of the Ebon Chalice, Valorous Heart, Our Martyred Lady (formerly 'Fiery Heart'), Argent Shroud, Bloody Rose and Sacred Rose) and these Orders contrast with the Orders Minoris or Minor Orders, it seems natural to consider the 'big 6' major Orders.
However, to my knowledge the 6 Orders Militant are never explicitly described as 'major Orders', so it may be possible that three of them are more important than the others. The Orders of the Sacred Rose and the Bloody Rose were both founded some 2 500 years after the initial four, one might consider them to be of lesser import. Similarly, the Order of Our Martyred Lady suffered grievous losses on Armageddon, so might be considered to have a correspondingly reduced influence.
Ultimately though, these are conjectures. As Our Martyred Lady only fielded around 300 Battle Sisters in the 3rd War for Armageddon but managed to field up to 5 000 during the 13th Black Crusade they don't seem to be diminished that much, and the two Rose orders have been a part of the Adepta Sororitas for 1 500 years, more than enough time to gain influence. It seems more likely to me that whoever penned that line in the rulebook was mistaken, perhaps confused by there being 3 Orders Militant based at each of the two Convents.

Thanks for posting the quotes, it's always neat to offer interested readers the actual texts. Kudos for the formatting, too!

As for the six big Orders Militant - the Codices consistently group them together, and establish that the Orders Minoris form a sub-group by themselves (see the organizations diagram on p. 18 of the 2E Codex, or the 3E bit you quoted yourself). It was my understanding that anything that isn't a Minor Order (or Ordo Minoris) would have to be a Major Order (or Ordo Maioris).

You bring a plausible explanation for why someone may have mixed up the numbers in the 5E rulebook, though!

Oh, and to correct myself, in the first post I thought the 5E book would omit only two Major Orders instead of three. Sorry about that, memory lapse! Good thing you had the actual quote at hand.

Thank you all for your posts they were very informitive, especially lynata and Æscholt ones - thanks you very much

KamikazeCanuck, you quote wins this thread, it is simple and goes straight to the point

Why mess around with all that hard work.

Because we want to know more them simple 7,8 decimal number?

Well it's a good thing Lynata showed up then.