nephew
Americannoun
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nephews
plural
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a son of one's brother or sister.
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a son of one's spouse's brother or sister.
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an illegitimate son of a clergyman who has vowed celibacy (used as a euphemism).
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Obsolete. a direct descendant, especially a grandson.
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Obsolete. a remote male descendant, as a grandnephew or cousin.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nephew
1250–1300; Middle English neveu < Old French < Latin nepōtem, accusative of nepōs nephew, grandson; akin to Old English nefa, Dutch neef, German Neffe, Old Norse nefi; the pseudo-etymological spelling with ph has influenced pronunciation
Explanation
A nephew is the son of your sibling. This makes you the aunt or uncle of that nephew. While a mom, dad, sister, and brother are members of an immediate family, a nephew is part of your extended family because he's the son of a sibling. When brothers or sisters have male children, you become an aunt or an uncle to a nephew. If your nephew has a sister, she is your niece. Both niece and nephew originally meant "grandchild," but narrowed to their current meanings in the 1600s.
Vocabulary lists containing nephew
It's All in the Family
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Unit 20, Lessons 1–2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Prosecutors allege that Davis acquired a gun and organised two vehicles to travel to a Las Vegas club, one of them a white Cadillac, which carried three other men, including his nephew, Anderson.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
She agreed to let her son live with her nephew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The first would be to buy a bigger headstone for his family gravesite, where his parents, four siblings and a nephew are buried in a single plot in the Green Street Cemetery.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Eric was so much more than a colleague. He was a son, brother, cousin, uncle, nephew, friend, mentor, and peacemaker,” he wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
I fell in love with my husband’s nephew!
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
But the house where he lived with his siblings and nephews was reduced to pieces by the quake.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The two young admirals, many assert, enjoyed meteoric career rises thanks to family patronage: They are nephews of a former secretary of the navy, José Rafael Ojeda Durán.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Among them were Kerr's grandparents and nephews, his first ever coach, and his training partners from when he was 11 or 12.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
He describes his modern family tree as a sprawling “tribe,” counting 16 nephews and 42 great-nephews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“So, you see,” he said, “I am Mordred’s father. Gawaine and the others are nephews, but he is my full son.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
