niece
Pluralnieces
- 1The daughter of one's sibling, or of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law.
His niece is studying medicine at the state university.
At the reunion, she introduced her nieces and nephews to old family friends.
Note
Once the word reached a generation further down. Latin neptis meant "granddaughter," and Old French and Middle English nece covered both niece and granddaughter, from an Indo-European root naming both relations. Modern English can specify the side of the family: a fraternal niece is a brother's daughter, a sororal niece a sister's. Nift is a doublet, the same ancestor reached by a different road.
- 2The daughter of one's cousin or of a cousin by marriage.
Though she is technically my cousin's daughter, I have always called her my niece.
He dotes on his niece, the daughter of a cousin who lives overseas.
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
From Middle English nece ("niece, granddaughter"), from Old French nece, which came from Late Latin neptia, representing Latin neptis ("granddaughter"), from Proto-Indo-European *néptih₂ ("granddaughter, niece"). It is a doublet of nift.