nephew

noun

neph·​ew ˈne-(ˌ)fyü 

 chiefly British  -(ˌ)vyü

plural nephews

1

: a son of one's brother, sister, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law

2

obsolete : a lineal (see lineal sense 3) descendant

especially : grandson

Examples of nephew in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That year, Wade was awarded full custody of his nephew Dahveon Morris. —D. Watkins, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2025

Hallie Johnson said James Johnson robbed her and her siblings of a brother, her parents of a son, her nephew of a father, and her son of an uncle. —Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 5 Apr. 2025

The defense pointed to several potential suspects at the home at the time, including Albert, his nephew and their friend, an agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives who had been exchanging flirty text messages with Read. —N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 5 Apr. 2025

The son of Cooper Manning and the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, Arch is finally expected to start for the Longhorns after Quinn Ewers entered the 2025 Draft class. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 4 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English nevew, from Anglo-French nevou, neveu, from Latin nepot-, nepos grandson, nephew; akin to Old English nefa grandson, nephew, Sanskrit napāt grandson

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing nephew

• great-nephew

Kids Definition

nephew

noun

neph·​ew ˈnef-yü 

: a son of one's brother, sister, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law