DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

niece

[ nees ]
/ nis /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR niece ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Content related to niece

Salem witch trialsRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE
What Do You Call Your Parents And Grandparents?Explore the different words people have come up with to describe their moms, dads, and grandparents. We might just toss in the random uncle, aunt, and cousin too. Most of these have an unknown origin (except where cited by region.)
READ MORE

Words related to niece

father, sibling, mother, cousin, folk, uncle, aunt, girl, wife, daughter, she, agnate, cognate, connection, blood, folks, relation, grandparents, sister-in-law, stepbrother

Words nearby niece

nidify, nidus, nidus avis, nidwalden, niebuhr, niece, niederrhein, niedersachsen, niederösterreich, niello, nielsen

Origin of niece

1250–1300; Middle English nece < Old French < Vulgar Latin *neptia, for Latin neptis granddaughter; replacing Middle English nifte, Old English nift niece (cognate with Old Frisian, Old High German nift, Dutch nicht, Old Norse nipt) < Germanic; akin to Lithuanian neptė̃, Sanskrit naptī; cf. nephew
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for niece

British Dictionary definitions for niece

niece
/ (niːs) /

noun

a daughter of one's sister or brother

Word Origin for niece

C13: from Old French niece granddaughter, ultimately from Latin neptis granddaughter
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