nibling

nib·ling
N1I1B3L1I1N1G2
US, UK/ˈnɪblɪŋ/

noun

Used especially as a gender-neutral term: the child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law; one's nephew or niece.

First used 1951Scrabble 10

Meanings

nounnibling (plural niblings)

plural niblings

  1. in pluraloftenUsed especially as a gender-neutral term: the child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law; one's nephew or niece.First known use 1951

    She [Viola Edmundson Garfield] was close to her family, particularly her younger “siblings and niblings.”

    1988, Jay Miller, “Viola Edmundson Garfield”, in Ute Gacs, Aisha Khan, Jerrie McIntyre, Ruth Weinberg, editors, Women Anthropologists: Selected Biographies, Illini Books edition, Urbana; Chicago, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, published 1989, →ISBN, page 112
    5 more examples

    Aunts and uncles are concerned with the education of their niblings and may play a minor role in the ultimate arrangement of a marriage for the nibling.

    1967, Ben J. Wallace, Gaddang Agriculture: The Focus of Ecological and Cultural Change (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin, →OCLC

    Very recently I heard an informant respond with cousin to my question about the “child of nibling” position.

    1971, Journal of the Steward Anthropological Society, volume 3, Urbana, Ill.: Steward Anthropological Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 144

    In the following line we find Q¹P²; that is, child of a parent of a parent; this is the relation that nuncles (aunts or uncles) bear to niblings (nieces or nephews).

    1974, Roger W. Shuy, Charles-James N. Bailey, editors, Towards Tomorrow’s Linguistics, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, →ISBN, page 125

    Kin selection was strongest for choices between sibling and friend, decreasing across sibling vs. nibling, nibling vs. friend, and nibling vs. cousin, [...]

    1998 May, Daniel J. Kruger, “Male Relatives Benefit More from Kin Selecting Tendencies Enhancing Social Status”, in Daniel J. Kruger, PhD, University of Michigan, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2019

    Most distinctive of the system, therefore, were the two terms for parental siblings and for niblings, which occurred only among the Salish and neighboring Southern Nootkans.

    1999, Jay Miller, “Body”, in Lushootseed Culture and the Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored Radiance, Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, page 127

    Synonyms: nephling, niefling

Synonyms & antonyms

nounUsed especially as a gender-neutral term: the child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law; one's nephew or niece.

Origin

Blend of nephew or niece + sibling, coined by the American linguist Samuel Elmo Martin (1924–2009) in 1951.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пле́менниче, пле́менници
  • пле́менниче (plémenniče)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • пле́менници (plémennici)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • вну́чка (vnúčka)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • вну́ка (vnúka)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • се́стринче (séstrinče)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • бра́товче (brátovče)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Esperanto genevo
  • genevogender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Finnish sisaruksen lapsi
  • sisaruksen lapsigender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
French nibling
  • niblinggender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Italian nipote
  • nipotegender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Korean 조카
  • 조카 (joka)gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Latin fratruelis, nipote
  • fratruelisgender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • nipotegender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • sobringender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • nepotegender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Malay penakan, ponakan
  • penakangender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • ponakangender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Polish dziecko siostry lub brata
  • dziecko siostry lub bratagender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Spanish sobrina, sobrino
  • sobrinagender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • sobrinogender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • sobrinegender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Swedish syskonbarn, brorsbarn
  • syskonbarngender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • brorsbarngender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • systerbarngender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Tagalog pamangkin
  • pamangkingender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
Turkish yeğen
  • yeğengender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with nibling

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

nibbling (one pronunciation)
Cite this entry
APA

nibling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nibling

MLA

“nibling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nibling. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nibling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nibling.

Source: nibling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.