nephew
(ˈnɛvjuː, ˈnɛfjuː)
Forms: α. 3–5 neueu(e, 3–6 neuew; 4–6 nevewe, 4, 6 neveu, (4 -oeu, 5 -ue); 4 neweu, (5 -ewe); 5 nepveu, -vew, 6 -evewe, -heu(e, -hue; neffewe, -ue; 5– nephew, (7 neiphew). β. 4 neuu, -ou, -ow; 4–6 nevow, (4 -ou, 5 -oue). γ. 4–9 Sc. nevo, 5 neuo, newo, nepho, 6 nepuo. δ. 4– Sc. nevoy, 6 newoy, nepvoy, 7 nephoy. ε. 6 neuie, -ye, 6–7 nevie, 6, 9 dial. nevy, 9 dial. nevey, neffi.
[a. OF. neveu (ONF. also nevu, nevou, nevo) = Prov. nebot, It. nepote, nipote:—L. nepōtem, acc. of nepos, grandson, nephew, descendant, related to OE. nefa: see neve.]
1. A brother's or sister's son; also, by extension, the son of a brother- or sister-in-law.
| α 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4508 Þo was þe king arþure vol of sorwe & sore,..Ac to awreke him of is luþer neueu, his herte bar alre best. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5098 Glad he was þat his neweu so nobul was wox. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 111 He wente into Egipt..forto see his suster and his nevewes. 1454 Paston Lett. I. 298 To take possession and saison, in the name and to the use of our ful worshipful nepveu, th'erl of Warrewic. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xx. 63 Blanchardyn..ranne vpon Corbodas, that neuewe was to kynge Alymodes. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 599 Use yourselfe to him as good uncles shulde do to their nephewes. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1613) 169 Euardes..had three Nephewes, sonnes to a sister of his. 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 120 As Plinius the elder was wont to say unto his nephew. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 41/2 He reposed his Head in the Bosom of his Sisters Son;..the Court dismist, he was found dead in his Nephew's Bosom. 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. i. iii. (1840) 79 What kind of a lady has my nephew got? 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xviii. ix, ‘Mr. Jones your nephew, sir!’.. ‘He is indeed..my own sister's son.’ 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxiii, The interview between the uncle and nephew being thus concluded, the Prince retired. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. viii. 207 It was here that Abraham encamped with his nephew Lot. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 20551 Mi moder was ful wa for me, And sua was hir neuu iohan. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 737 He kist tristrem ful skete And for his nevou toke. 1468 Paston Lett. II. 329 Wilbeloved nevoue, I recomaunde me to yow. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 529 Nero thy nevow, Golyas thy grantsire. |
| γ 1375 Barbour Bruce xvi. 44 And specialy the erll Thomass Of Murreff, that his nevo was. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 431 Welcum, neuo, welcum deir sone to me. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. xiv. (S.T.S.) I. 301 C. Claudius..began to speik to his said nevo, erare in maner of prayer þan ony displesere. 1558 Kennedy Compend. Tractive in Wodrow Misc. (1844) I. 97 To my derrest and best beluiffit Nepuo, Gilbert, Maister of Cassilis. 1678 Anne Keith in Kirkton Ch. Hist. (1817) 357, I have written to your nevo the tresorer of Edin. 1844 W. Cross Disruption i. (E.D.D.), To tell me that my nevo is comin' doun the burn-side. |
| δ 1509 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 5 My son Hugh Hulley, and Sir Thomas Pilley my newoy. 1562 Turner Bathes Ded., Duke of Summerset, and Protector of his Nepvoy King Edward the Sixt. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 107 Dawid Lyndsay..quhois nevoy, sone to Johnne his brother [etc.]. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vi, Haud your peace, Alison! I was speaking to my nevoy. 1839 Moir Mansie Wauch (ed. 2) xxvii. 359 A leather-cap, edged with rabbit-fur, for her little nevoy. |
| ε 1530 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 285 To John Bradford, my nevy. 1555 Eden Decades 40 Aries Pinzonus his neuie by his brothers syde. 1607 in Antiquary XXXII. 242 To Symon hallyday, my nevie. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 4 Nunky, Nevy and Watch go on as usual. [1848 Dickens Dombey xxxii, Poor nevyless old Sol.] 1858–61 Ramsay Remin. v. (1870) 117, I am real glad to find my nevy has made so good a choice. |
b. Euphemistically applied to the illegitimate son of an ecclesiastic.
| 1587 Harrison England ii. ii. (1877) 48 For nephues might say in those daies; ‘Father, shall I call you uncle?’ And vncles also; ‘Son, I must call thee nephue.’ 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 104 The chiefe of these banished men was the Nephew (so they call Church-mens bastards) of the Cardinall Caietano. a 1848 G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West (1849) 218 They were probably his nieces and nephews—a class of relations often possessed in numbers by priests and monks. 1873 Dixon Two Queens I. iii. ii. 125 More papal ‘nephews’ had been stalled and mitred in the English Church. |
c. nephew-in-law, the husband of a brother's or sister's daughter.
nephew-elect, one who is intended to have this relationship.
| 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 381/2 It was not his fault that I, your nephew-elect, am not a Northamptonshire Squire. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xv, The company added their entreaties to those of his nephew-in-law. 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. x. 199 The..youth who purposes being my nephew-in-law. |
† 2. A brother's or sister's daughter; a niece.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. xcvii. 71 The beaute and great vertue of Clotildis, neuewe to Cundebald. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 712 To my nevoy Matildis, that hes richt Till all Ingland intill hir faderis sicht, I haif maid homage. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxii. 155 The Athenians were wont to marry the brother with the sister, but not the Vncle with the nephew. |
† 3. A grandson.
Obs. (Common in 17th c.)
| α 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7709 Richard is o neueu brec þere is nekke þer to. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 109 That thou..Hast served so ententtyfly Hys blynde nevewe Cupido. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 91 Scipio Nasica, þe greet Scipio þat heet Affricanus his nevewe. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Cc ij, Ye had your nevewes, sonnes of your chyldren, maryed. 1591 Spenser Ruines of Rome viii, Vertuous nephewes..Striving in power their grandfathers to passe. 1632 Holland Cyrupædia v. v. 115 Naturall children and nephewes [marg., childrens children, as we say unproperly, Grand-children]. 1656 Trapp Exp. 2 Tim. i. 5 The grandmothers also..love their nephews better than their own immediate children. 1699 Bentley Phalaris 43 Among the ancient Greeks the name of the Grandfather was commonly given to the Nephew. |
| γ δ 1513 Douglas æneis iv. iv. 86 The ȝong Ascanyus, Nevo to King Dardane and to Venus. 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 140 He..as nevoy and air be progres of umquhile Andro Wod.., his guidsire. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 34 Gif ane man deceis, haueand ane after-borne sonne, and ane Nephoy of his first-begotten sonne [etc.]. |
† b. transf. (after L. use). A prodigal.
Obs.—1.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 638/1 Whyther the olde holy doctours and saynctes..be better to be beleued.., or els these yong new naughty nephewes. |
† 4. A descendant; one of remote or unspecified degree of descent; a successor.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 263 Engistus and Horsus..were Woden his nevewes [L. abnepotes]. 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. Rom. xi. 30 b, The Jewes..yf they this do not, then are they not his [Abraham's] neuewes. 1597 J. King On Jonas (1618) 135 Thy childrens children & nephews to com. 1647 Trapp Comm. 2 Cor. v. 10 On that day Adam shall see all his nephews together. 1676 Glanvill Seasonable Reflect. 189 All the ancient Sages, with their Sons, and Nephews to the latest Posterity. |
† 5. A figure in geomancy.
Obs. rare.
| 1591 Sparry tr. Cattan's Geomancie 9 Nowe resteth it to declare the making of the Nephews, with their qualities. |
† 6. A secondary shoot.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1745 tr. Columella's Husb. iv. vi, From that place from which you have taken away the nephew or secondary twig [L. nepotem], it presently pours forth another. |
Hence
ˈnephewship, the state or position of a nephew;
† nepotism.
| 1647 Hexham, Neefschap, nephewship. 1669 Hist. Pope's Nephews ii. (1673) 80 If Nephewship ever did good in Rome, 'twas in the time of Pius the Fifth. 1857 Borrow Rom. Rye ii, People..who..are disposed..to swallow the reality of the nephewship of Camillo Astalli. 1885 Harper's Mag. Apr. 787/1 This good sonship and good nephewship. |