niece

American  

[nees] / nis /

noun

• nieces
  plural

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

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

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niece British  

/ niːs /

noun

1. a daughter of one's sister or brother

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Usage

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."

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nieces
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of niece

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; cf. nephew

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Explanation

Your niece is your siblings's daughter. It's as simple as that. Your parents' brothers and sisters are your uncles and aunts. If you are female, you are their niece. If you are male, you are their nephew. Both niece and nephew come from the Latin word nepotem. One nice thing about the spelling of niece is that it adheres to the "i" before "e" except after "c" rule. Whew!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

niece nieces

A man named Sohail told AFP that "everyone began screaming in panic" when his niece, who had escaped the building, arrived home to tell them it had collapsed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

When the bride processes down the aisle, I don’t see a niece, a stepdaughter or a godchild, merely a radiant young woman stepping into a new phase of life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

"I never expected it would go viral and definitely didn't expect it to attract the attention of Dolly's family - especially her niece Jada," Lewis said.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

This time, her muse was her own infant niece.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Blossom was the niece and sole heir to an unmarried earl.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

As my nieces and nephews grew up, I had all the fun moments and none of the tedious ones: Yes to presents; no to homework, discipline and tears.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Judge Reel described the impact his death had had on the family as "profound", saying while Richard had no children of his own, he served as a "father figure" to his nephews and nieces.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

On that day, Ayala said, his nieces had finished working as cooks at a Thai restaurant around 2 a.m. and decided to go out with two cousins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

I like the brunch place where a waiter knows I want blackberry jam with my Texas toast, and I know what his nieces have been reading lately.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

Mr. Philips visited them all, and this opened to his nieces a source of felicity unknown before.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

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Related Words

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

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