niece

[ nees ]

noun

1. a daughter of a person's brother or sister.
2. a daughter of a person's spouse's brother or sister.

niece

/ niːs /

noun

1. a daughter of one's sister or brother

Word History and Origins

Origin of niece¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English nece, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin neptia (unrecorded), from Latin neptis “granddaughter”; replacing Middle English nifte, Old English nift; cognate with Old Frisian, Old High German nift, Dutch nicht, Old Norse nipt; akin to Lithuanian neptė̃, Sanskrit naptī; nephew

Word History and Origins

Origin of niece¹

C13: from Old French niece granddaughter, ultimately from Latin neptis granddaughter

Example Sentences

She’d just filmed her first professional job — playing Queen Latifah’s niece in “Barbershop 2,” a role she auditioned for at an open call in Chicago — and MGM invited her to the Hollywood premiere.

From Los Angeles Times

When discussing Trump's mass deportation proposals, Ms Villalobos's niece, 19-year-old university student Alexandra de Leon, said they were "terrifying".

From BBC

Jade Campbell, Ms McGowan's niece, was with her when she died.

From BBC

“The possibility that I could lose my wife a second time — not just our future but also the slow erosion of our past — terrified me,” Henry writes in a letter to his niece, which set him off on a writing exercise to create a website dedicated to their time together.

From Los Angeles Times

In January, managers of Prince Legacy filed a new lawsuit alleging that four of Prince’s family members — half sisters Sharon Nelson and Norrine Nelson, Prince’s niece Breanna Nelson and nephew Allen Nelson— improperly attempted to oust the manager from the company, Forbes reported.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aunt
• cousin
• father
• folk
• mother
• sibling
• uncle