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

Last week, the administration sanctioned six ships accused of carrying oil from Venezuela, along with three nephews of Maduro, two of whom were accused of narcotics trafficking and one of whom worked for the country's state oil company. —Joe Walsh, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2025

White had written several tales about the adventures of Stuart Little for his 18 nieces and nephews before compiling them into a book. —Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 13 Dec. 2025

Kabanyana and his family of 11 — parents, sisters, nieces and nephews — used to all live crammed in a hut like that. —Fatma Tanis, NPR, 13 Dec. 2025

Ray’s nephew, who is 16 and an American, had to wait for his dad while border patrol agents detained the man. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 12 Dec. 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