Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

nephew

/ˈnɛf.ju/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English

Syllables: nephew
IPA: /ˈnɛf.ju/

14

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A son of one's sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either a son of one's brother (fraternal nephew) or a son of one's sister (sororal nephew).

noun

A son of one's cousin or cousin-in-law

noun

A son of one's child.

Archaic

noun

name

Example Sentences

"Hir father many a time and oft would say my daughter deere, Of Nephewes thou my debtour art, their Graundsires heart to chéere."
"On that day Adam shall see all his nephews together"

Etymology

From Middle English nevew, neveu (“nephew, grandson”), from Old French neveu, from Latin nepos, nepōtem, from Proto-Italic *nepōts (“nephew, grandson”), whence also French neveu, Italian nipote. Displaced or absorbed the inherited English neve (“nephew, grandson, male cousin”), from Middle English neve, from Old English nefa, from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew, grandson”), whence Dutch neef, German Neffe. All ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *népōts (“grandchild, sister's son”). Cognate with Serbo-Croatian nećak, Irish nia, Persian نوه (nave). Doublet of neve. Spelt with -ph- by readaptation to Latin nepos since the 15th century, which later triggered the spelling pronunciation with /f/.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: nevew, neveu, nepos, *nepōts, *népōts

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈnɛv.ju/

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

nephews (plural)

Derived Forms

grandnephew nephewish nephewless nephewly nephewship nevvy niefling stepnephew

Phrases

cardinal nephew cardinal-nephew great-great-nephew great-nephew half nephew half-nephew nephew fucker nephew-in-law

Frequently Paired Words

nepotism neve niece nift

Synonyms

neve grandson

Rhymes With

grandnephew leffew

Questions

How do you pronounce nephew?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɛf.ju/.
What does nephew mean?: A son of one's sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either a son of one's brother (fraternal nephew) or a son of one's sister (sororal nephew).
Where does nephew come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce nephew

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “nephew”.
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