née

or nee

[ ney ]

adjective
  1. formerly known as (used following the person’s current or recognized name to introduce a previous, usually feminine, name): Jackie Kennedy Onassis, née Bouvier.

Origin of née

1
First recorded in 1750–60; from French née, feminine of (past participle of naître “to be born”), ultimately derived from Latin nātus; see origin at nascent

usage note For née

Née has long been used in English, as in French, to pair a woman’s married name with her maiden name. Since women are more likely to change their names in adulthood, the feminine-inflected form of this French word, spelled with a second letter e, is the one most widely used and recognized.
While in French a man’s original name would be noted with the masculine form , some English speakers are only familiar with the form née. It is not uncommon to see this feminine form used for masculine names, or inanimate objects: the Tennessee Titans, née the Houston Oilers. On the other hand, because English has no gender inflection, it is normal for borrowed words to lose gender markings, so the masculine form is also sometimes seen modifying a woman’s name: Marilyn Monroe, né Norma Jean Mortensen.

Words Nearby née

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How to use née in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for née

née

nee

/ (neɪ) /


adjective
  1. indicating the maiden name of a married woman: Mrs Bloggs née Blandish

Origin of née

1
C19: from French: past participle (fem) of naître to be born, from Latin nascī

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012