Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A son of one's brother or sister or of the brother or sister of one's spouse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A grandchild; sometimes, a more remote lineal descendant.
  • noun A cousin.
  • noun The son of one's brother or sister. This is now the usual meaning. Sometimes, in the interpretation of wills, the word is understood as including also ‘grandnephew.’

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A grandson or grandchild, or remoter lineal descendant.
  • noun obsolete A cousin.
  • noun The son of a brother or a sister, or of a brother-in-law or sister-in-law.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun 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).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a son of your brother or sister

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English neveu, nepheu, from Old French nevo, neveu, from Latin nepōs; see nepōt- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English nevew, neveu ("nephew, grandson"), from Old French neveu ("nephew, grandson"), from Latin nepōtem, accusative of nepōs ("nephew, grandson"), from Proto-Indo-European *nepot- (“grandchild, sister's son”). Cognate with Old English nefa ("nephew, grandson"). More at neve.

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Examples

  • If you are a government official and your nephew is also your son-in-law, how can you resist giving him a job?

    What's Wrong With Fraternalism?, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • I'm sure the nephew is also, as he has the typical democrat "it's all about me" attitude.

    A pricey proposal 2009

  • Mr. Stafford said he was "definitely" surprised to hear that his nephew is alleged to have had a gun, but was thankful the incident didn't end in tragedy for him or Mr. Martinez.

    Teen Charged With Shooting Officer Sean Gardiner 2010

  • I am sure your nephew is an employee de confianza and not a member of the PEMEX union -- I was just talking about the union benefits.

    A second home 2009

  • It's considered "political" because the nephew is a delegate for Baltimore County.

    A pricey proposal 2009

  • I am sure your nephew is an employee de confianza and not a member of the PEMEX union -- I was just talking about the union benefits.

    A second home 2009

  • I am sure your nephew is an employee de confianza and not a member of the PEMEX union -- I was just talking about the union benefits.

    A second home 2009

  • I am sure your nephew is an employee de confianza and not a member of the PEMEX union -- I was just talking about the union benefits.

    A second home 2009

  • I am sure your nephew is an employee de confianza and not a member of the PEMEX union -- I was just talking about the union benefits.

    A second home 2009

  • It has become especially worse as of late – due to the fact that my nephew is the ‘baby saint’.

    Survivor: Child Island | Her Bad Mother 2006

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