nephew

pronunciation

How to pronounce nephew in British English: UK [ˈnefjuː]word uk audio image

How to pronounce nephew in American English: US [ˈnefjuː] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    a son of your brother or sister

Word Origin

nephew
nephew: [13] Nephew goes back ultimately to Indo-European *nepōt-, which denoted a range of indirect male descendants, including ‘grandson’ and ‘nephew’. Among its offspring were Greek anepsiós ‘nephew’, Sanskrit nápāt ‘grandson’, Germanic *nebon (source of German neffe and Dutch neef ‘nephew’), and Latin nepōs ‘nephew, grandson’ (source of English nepotism [17], etymologically ‘favouring one’s nephews’).This passed into Old French as neveu, from which English got nephew (replacing the related native English term neve). The corresponding Indo-European feminine form was *neptī-, which is the ultimate source of English niece.=> nepotism, niece
nephew (n.)
c. 1300, from Old French neveu (Old North French nevu) "grandson, descendant," from Latin nepotem (nominative nepos) "sister's son, grandson, descendant," in post-Augustan Latin, "nephew," from PIE *nepot- "grandchild," and in a general sense, "male descendant other than son" (cognates: Sanskrit napat "grandson, descendant;" Old Persian napat- "grandson;" Old Lithuanian nepuotis "grandson;" Dutch neef; German Neffe "nephew;" Old Irish nia, genitive niath "son of a sister," Welsh nei). Used in English in all the classical senses until meaning narrowed in 17c., and also as a euphemism for "the illegitimate son of an ecclesiastic" (1580s). The Old English cognate, nefa "nephew, stepson, grandson, second cousin" survived to 16c.

Antonym

n.

niece

Example

1. Two weeks later they arrested narciso 's nephew .
2. June 1 : pick up nephew from boarding school in vermont .
3. 4 Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew .
4. The police claimed my nephew was wanted in tennessee for drug offenses .
5. Surely no one fires someone who has just done their nephew a good turn ?

more: >How to Use "nephew" with Example Sentences