Niece Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms niece American [nees] / nis /

noun

1. a daughter of a person's brother or sister.

2. a daughter of a person's spouse's brother or sister.

niece British / niːs /

noun

1. a daughter of one's sister or brother

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

Spelling tips for niece The word niece is hard to spell because it can be hard to remember the order of the i and e. Sometimes people want to spell it neice, which is incorrect.How to spell niece: The easiest way to remember how to spell niece is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C."

Etymology

Origin of niece

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English nece, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin neptia (unrecorded), from Latin neptis “granddaughter”; replacing Middle English nifte, Old English nift; cognate with Old Frisian, Old High German nift, Dutch nicht, Old Norse nipt; akin to Lithuanian neptė̃, Sanskrit naptī; nephew

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Johnson was recovering from a knee injury and would have preferred to stay home in bed sleeping before her work shift , but her niece needed to do some last-minute shopping.

From Los Angeles Times

Johnson was recovering from a knee injury and would have preferred to stay home in bed sleeping before being forced to work, but her niece needed to do last-minute shopping.

From Los Angeles Times

During submissions a prosecution barrister outlined Bracas' interview with police, where he told them he felt his sister treated him like garbage and made him do chores and babysit his niece.

From BBC

"Take your anger and… just spread happiness and love and memory for my lovely niece," Ms Chernykh said.

From BBC

This is the room that Jenner envisions for the children in her life—from her nieces and nephews to her own kids in the future.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• aunt
• cousin
• father
• folk
• mother
• sibling
• uncle

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.