variants or nee
1
used to identify a woman by her maiden family name
Mrs. Jane Doe, née Smith
2
: originally or formerly called
the Brewers née Pilots who also are in their third yearFred Ciampa

Examples of née in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Brink was born in 2000 as the only son of Aaron and Laura (nee Voepel) Brink, of Orange, Calif., and a year later, in July 2001, the couple separated. Anchorage Daily News, 22 Nov. 2022 Son to Tiggy Pettifer, nee Legge-Bourke, his mom was nanny to William and Harry in the 1990’s and has remained close to William ever since. Erin Hill, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2022 Yup, Newport Live — nee Common Fence Music — presents Laura Veirs July 21. Lauren Daley, BostonGlobe.com, 14 July 2022 Morgan finally got clean by the late-’60s, with the help of his common-law wife Helen Morgan (nee Moore), and was determined to turn his life and career around with a vision. Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2021 XXXTentacion, née Jahseh Onfroy, was pronounced dead after being shot Monday in Florida. Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 20 June 2018 Son to Tiggy Pettifer, nee Legge-Bourke, his mom was nanny to William and Harry in the 1990’s and has remained close to William ever since. Erin Hill, PEOPLE.com, 8 May 2018 Carole King, nee Carol Klein, started writing songs as a teenager at James Madison High School, and made demo records with her friend Paul Simon. Ellise Pierce, star-telegram, 5 Sep. 2017 Lewis, nee Hurwitz, had been married briefly in her late teens, to advertising executive Stan Lewis, a union that had ended badly. Maria Carter, Country Living, 30 June 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'née.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French née, feminine of , literally, born, past participle of naître to be born, from Latin nasci — more at nation

First Known Use

1758, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of née was in 1758

Dictionary Entries Near née

Cite this Entry

“Née.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/n%C3%A9e. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

née

adjective
variants or nee
used to identify a woman by her family name at birth
Mrs. Jane Doe, née Smith
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