Nephews and nieces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nephew is a term referring to the son of one's sibling or spouse's sibling, and niece to the daughter of one's sibling or spouse's sibling. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation. The word nephew is derived from the French word neveu.

• Nephew - son of your brother/sister (and their spouse).
• Niece - daughter of your sister/brother (and their spouse).
• Half-nephew - son of your half-brother/half-sister.
• Half-niece - daughter of your half-brother/half-sister.
• Nephew-in-law - son of your sister-in-law/brother-in-law; husband of your niece.
• Niece-in-law - daughter of your sister-in-law/brother-in-law; wife of your nephew.
• Step-nephew - son of your stepbrother/sister, or stepson of your brother/sister.
• Step-niece - daughter of your stepbrother/sister, or stepdaughter of your brother/sister.

In archaic terminology a maternal nephew is called a sister-son, emphasizing the importance as a person's nearest male relative should he have no brothers or sons of his own. The term is used to describe some knights who are nephews to King Arthur and is imitated by J.R.R. Tolkien, especially in lists of Kings of Rohan or dwarves where the sister-son is also heir. Sister-daughter is a less common parallel term for niece.

[edit] See also

• For details of this and other family relationships, see the entry at cousin.

[edit] External links

Look up nephews and nieces in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

•  "nephew". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.