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.
When Perla rejects Ulises’ practiced advances, he enlists the aid of her put-upon niece, who longs to escape both her demanding aunt and the decaying mansion that entraps her.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Her mother is the niece of consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and is running for Congress as an independent.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
Another reader accepted $300,000 from his in-laws so he and his wife could buy a home, only to receive a demand to give their niece $125,000 when they sold the house.
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
Vanessa Soderstrom was at home in Naples, Fla., with her teenage niece when her phone alerted her to someone at the sliding glass door.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
“We was just trying to get in so my niece could battle.”
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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.
