ENGLISH
REFERENCE

nephew

n.
US //ˈnɛfju// UK //nˈɛfjuː// nephew
  1. 1 son of a sibling (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    the son of your brother or sister.

    the male child of one's brother or sister.

    Example

    My nephew is five years old and loves playing with his toy cars.

    Example

    She took her nephew to the zoo for his birthday, as he had recently developed a fascination with exotic birds.

    Usage

    The term also applies to the son of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law.
    Pitfall
    My nephew is the daughter of my sister.
    My niece is the daughter of my sister.

    Use 'nephew' for a boy and 'niece' for a girl.

  2. 2 son of a cousin (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the son of your cousin.

    the male child of one's cousin; more precisely referred to as a first cousin once removed.

    Example

    I invited my cousin and her young son, my nephew, to the family reunion.

    Example

    While technically a first cousin once removed, he was always introduced to the children as their nephew to simplify the family tree.

    Teacher's tip

    In many English-speaking cultures, this specific relationship is often just called a 'cousin' to avoid confusion.

  3. 3 a grandson (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic

    a son of your own child.

    a grandson or more distant male descendant.

    Example

    In the old story, the king left his crown to his nephew, the son of his eldest son.

    Example

    The legal document from the seventeenth century used the term nephew to refer to the testator's grandson.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is obsolete in modern English; learners will only encounter it in historical texts or literature.
Origin

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). Spelt with -ph- by readaptation to Latin nepos since the 15th century, which later triggered the spelling pronunciation with /f/.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 19, 2026