Niece

Pronunciation

• IPA: /niːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs
• Homophones: Nice

Origin

Middle English nece ("niece, granddaughter"), from Old French nece ("niece, granddaughter") (Modern French nièce "niece") from Vulgar Latin *neptia, representing Latin neptis ("granddaughter"), from Proto-Indo-European *nepot- ("grandchild, sister's son"). Akin to Old High German nift ("niece, granddaughter") (German Nichte ("niece")). Displaced native Middle English nifte ("niece, granddaughter") (from Old English nift ("niece, granddaughter")).

Full definition of niece

Noun

1. A daughter of someone’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").My niece just celebrated her 15th birthday.

Antonyms

• with regard to gender nephew
• with regard to ancestry aunt, uncle

Derived terms

• grandniece

Hypernyms

• nibling