nephew
Meanings
Plural: nephews
Noun
- a son of your brother or sister
- A son of one's sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either a son of one's brother (fraternal nephew) or a son of one's sister (sororal nephew).
- A son of one's cousin or cousin-in-law
- A son of one's child.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English nevew, neveu (“nephew, grandson”), from Old French neveu, from Latin nepos, nepōtem, from Proto-Italic *nepōts (“nephew, grandson”), whence also French neveu, Italian nipote. Displaced or absorbed the inherited English neve (“nephew, grandson, male cousin”), from Middle English neve, from Old English nefa, from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew, grandson”), whence Dutch neef, German Neffe. All ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *népōts (“grandchild, sister's son”). Cognate with Serbo-Croatian nećak, Irish nia, Persian نوه (nave).
Spelt with -ph- by readaptation to Latin nepos since the 15th century, which later triggered the spelling pronunciation with /f/.
Antonyms
Scrabble Score: 14
nephew is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordnephew is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
nephew is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary