niece
Americannoun
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a daughter of a person's brother or sister.
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a daughter of a person's spouse's brother or sister.
noun
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."
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
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!
Vocabulary lists containing niece
It's All in the Family
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Unit 20, Lessons 1–2
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 4
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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.
Jamshidi has family members, including his brother—who worked in a high-risk post as a security guard for the U.S. consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, for years—his sister-in-law, niece and nephew stuck in Camp As Sayliyah.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
He has one adult son, from whom he is estranged, and a niece.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
The niece and grand-niece of the deceased commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen Qasem Soleimani, have been arrested, the State Department has said.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
“They Will Kill You” feels like helping my two-year-old niece put together a fairly simple, 12-piece puzzle, and watching her exclaim with delight before asking if we can assemble it again.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
Her only relative was a niece in Boston, who arranged for a local lawyer to liquidate Mrs. Garner’s property.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
