Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

NEPHEW

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 384 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

NEPHEW , the son of a See also:

brother or See also:sister. The word is adapted from Fr. neveu, See also:Lat. See also:nepos (originally " See also:grandson " or " descendant "). The O. Eng. nefa survived in the See also:form new till the 15th See also:century; this represents the See also:Teutonic See also:branch, cf. Ger. Neffe, Dutch neef; the ultimate See also:root is seen in the cognate Gr. i4lro&es, " descendants," See also:ave,/aos, " kinsman," and Sans. napat, napt, " descendants " or " descendant." The correlative " niece," the daughter of a brother or sister, is from Fr. niece, Lat. neptis, the feminine form of nepos; the O. Eng. word was nift, cf. Ger. Nichte. A euphemistic use of " nephew " is that of the natural son of a See also:pope, See also:cardinal or other ecclesiastic; and from the practice of granting preferments to such See also:children the word " nepotism " is used of any favouritism shown in finding positions for a See also:man's See also:family.

End of Article: NEPHEW

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
NEPHELINITES 		[next]
NEPHTHYS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries