Niece and nephew

The word nephew is derived from the French word neveu which is derived from the Latin nepos.[2] The term nepotism, meaning familial loyalty, is derived from this Latin term.[3] Niece entered Middle English from the Old French word nece, which also derives from Latin nepotem.[4] The word nibling, derived from sibling, is a neologism suggested by Samuel Martin in 1951 as a cover term for "nephew or niece"; it is not common outside of specialist literature.[1] Sometimes in discussions involving analytic material or in abstract literature, terms such as male nibling and female nibling are preferred to describe nephews and nieces respectively.[5] Terms such as nibling are also sometimes viewed as a gender-neutral alternative to terms which may be viewed as perpetuating the overgenderization of the English language.[6]

These French-derived terms displaced the Middle English nyfte, nift, nifte, from Old English nift, from Proto-Germanic *niftiz (“niece”); and the Middle English neve, neave, from Old English nefa, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew”).[7][8][9][10]

Traditionally, a nephew was the logical recipient of his uncle's inheritance if the latter did not have a successor. A nephew might have more rights of inheritance than the uncle's daughter.[11][12]

In social environments that lacked a stable home or environments such as refugee situations, uncles and fathers would equally be assigned responsibility for their sons and nephews.[13]

Among parents, some cultures have assigned equal status in their social status to daughters and nieces. This is, for instance, the case in Indian communities in Mauritius,[14] and the Thai Nakhon Phanom Province, where the transfer of cultural knowledge such as weaving was distributed equally among daughters, nieces and nieces-in-law by the Tai So community,[15] and some Garifuna people that would transmit languages to their nieces.[16] In some proselytizing communities the term niece was informally extended to include non-related younger female community members as a form of endearment.[17] Among some tribes in Manus Province of Papua New Guinea, women's roles as sisters, daughters and nieces may have taken precedence over their marital status in social importance.[18]

• A grandnephew or grandniece is the grandson or granddaughter of one's sibling.[19] Also called great-nephew / great-niece.[20]
• A half-niece or half-nephew is the child of one's half-sibling, related by 12.5%.[21][22]

In some cultures and family traditions, it is common to refer to cousins with one or more removals to a newer generation using some form of the word niece or nephew. For more information see cousin.

Look up niece, nephew, or nibling in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nephew" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 384.
• Lancaster, F. M. (October 2005). "Types of Collateral Relationships - Uncle/Aunt Nephew/Niece". Genetic and Quantitative Aspects of Genealogy. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
• Dictionary.com, "nephew," in Dictionary.com Unabridged. Source location: Random House, Inc. Available: Dictionary.com Is The World’s Favorite Online Dictionary. Retrieved: January 1, 2011