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 did not feel safe, she said, so she moved into her mother’s three-bedroom apartment with her two children, her brother, her sister and her niece.

From Washington Post

If your nieces and nephews like camping in the back yard, or you have friends who enjoy traveling light, this single-height mattress is a great option.

From Popular-Science

His former lawyer is set to release a tell-all book about him and his niece already has.

From Washington Blade

However, it is more like your niece pointing to the rabbits while also understanding that rabbits are animals.

From Singularity Hub 

By contrast, the desire of his niece, Bethany, to become transhuman through tech implants and bio-hacking is met with anger, fear, and revulsion.

From No Straight News

He is said to have had many affairs, chief among them with Jean Gordon, his half-niece.

From The Daily Beast

He hugs his sister, Athelgra, hugs his daughter, Ernestine, hugs his niece Arthel.

From The Daily Beast

Negron was dating Mayor Delle Donna's niece, Rita Perito, and their relationship allegedly turned physically abusive.

From The Daily Beast

My ultimate aim is that by the time my niece is eight - she's three now - there won't be a risk of FGM.

From The Daily Beast

I have a 13-year-old niece who is a Belieber (aka big fan of Justin).

From The Daily Beast

One of her humours was to unite the son of her minister, with a niece of the widowed Queen of Saint Germain's.

From Project Gutenberg

It was evident to the German doctor that his patron looked forward to his great-niece's visit with pleasure.

From Project Gutenberg

Miss Barrington shook off her anger, and rising, laid a gentle hand on her niece's shoulder.

From Project Gutenberg

A niece is so safe—however good you are at statistics, you can't really prove anything.

From Project Gutenberg

(A little awkwardly) Darling one, I wonder if you'd mind—just at first—being introduced as my niece.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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

How Do You Spell Niece?

Spelling tips for niece

The word niece is hard to spell because it can be hard to remember the order of the i and e. Sometimes people want to spell it neice, which is incorrect.

How to spell niece: The easiest way to remember how to spell niece is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C.”