Word
niece
US/ˈnis/
UK/nˈiːs/
Definitions
01daughter of a sibling
n. the daughter of your brother or sister; also the daughter of your husband's or wife's sibling.
n. the female child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law.
“My niece is five years old and loves drawing pictures for her parents.”
“She took her niece to the zoo for her birthday, enjoying the chance to spend quality time with her brother's eldest daughter.”
Pitfall
My niece is the son of my sister.
My nephew is the son of my sister.
Use 'niece' for a girl and 'nephew' for a boy.
Antonyms
02daughter of a cousin
n. the daughter of your cousin.
n. the daughter of one's cousin; more precisely termed a 'first cousin once removed' in formal genealogy.
“In some families, people call their cousin's daughter their niece.”
“While technically his first cousin once removed, he always referred to her as his niece due to their significant age difference.”
Informal
Usage
This usage is common in many cultures but is technically inaccurate in formal English genealogy.
Teaching tip
Learners should be aware that while 'niece' usually means a sibling's daughter, some native speakers use it loosely for younger female relatives.
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.