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 anepsiósnephew’, Sanskrit nápātgrandson’, Germanic *nebon (source of German neffe and Dutch neefnephew’), and Latin nepōsnephew, 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.
\ \ Cf.NEPOTISM, NIECE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • nephew — (n.) c.1300, from O.Fr. neveu (O.N.Fr. nevu) grandson, descendant, from L. nepotem (nom. 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 …   Etymology dictionary

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  • nephew — ► NOUN ▪ a son of one s brother or sister, or of one s brother in law or sister in law. ORIGIN Old French neveu, from Latin nepos grandson, nephew …   English terms dictionary

  • nephew — [nef′yo͞o; ] chiefly Brit [, nev′yo͞o] n. [ME neveu < OFr < L nepos < IE base * nepot , grandson, nephew > Sans napat, OE nefa] 1. a) the son of one s brother or sister b) the son of one s brother in law or sister in law 2. an… …   English World dictionary

  • Nephew — Neph ew (n[e^]f [ u]; in England n[e^]v [ u]; 277), n. [OE. neveu, nevou, nevu, fr. F. neveu, OF. also, nevou, L. nepos; akin to AS. nefa, D. neef, G. neffe, OHG. nevo, Icel. nefi a kinsman, Gr. ne podes, pl., brood, young, Skr. nep[=a]t grandson …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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 …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • Nephew —    There may be some uncles and aunts who address nephews by this term in modern times, but such vocative usage is mostly obsolete. It occurs regularly in the literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however. Upper middle class… …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

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