Etymology

nephew

N1E1P3H4E1W4

Today it means: 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). Full definition →

Middle English nevew ← Old French neveu ← Latin nepos, nepōtem
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nephew · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*népōts“grandchild, sister's son”
  2. Proto-Italic · derived from*nepōts“nephew, grandson”
  3. Latin · derived fromnepos, nepōtem
  4. Old French · derived fromneveu
  5. Middle English · inherited fromnevew
  6. English todaynephew

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). Doublet of neve. Spelt with -ph- by readaptation to Latin nepos since the 15th century, which later triggered the spelling pronunciation with /f/.

Nephew · proper noun2

English surname, from the noun nephew.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchneveu all →

neve

Proto-Indo-European*népōts all →

neptuneneve

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.