Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

niece

/nis/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.82 in modern English

Syllables
niece
IPA
/nis/
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").

noun

A daughter of one’s cousin or cousin-in-law

name

A surname.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English nece (“niece, granddaughter”), from Old French nece (“niece, granddaughter”) (Modern French nièce (“niece”)) from Late Latin neptia, representing Latin neptis (“granddaughter”), from Proto-Indo-European *néptih₂ (“granddaughter, niece”). Doublet of nift.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: nece, neptia, neptis, *néptih₂

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /nis/
  • British English: /niːs/

Inflected Forms

nieces (plural)

Derived Forms

grandniece nieceless niecely nieceship niefling stepniece

Phrases

great-niece half niece niece fucker niece-in-law step-niece step-

Frequently Paired Words

dad mom brother sister grandfather grandmother cousin step-

Synonyms

nift

Homonyms

Nice

Antonyms

nephew aunt uncle

Rhymes With

police release increase piece peace greece decrease lease cease luis vietnamese maurice

Questions

How do you pronounce niece?
The recorded pronunciation is /nis/.
What does niece mean?
A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").
Where does niece come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce niece

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “niece”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/nis/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “niece”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “niece” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.