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great-nephew

great-nephew

3 3.2
A son of your niece or nephew
  • noun
  • /ˈɡreɪtˌnɛfju/
translation icon : sobrino nieto
  • Do you see how my great-nephew is behaving at this moment of crisis?
  • nieces and great-nephews
  • old great-nephew
  • year-old great-nephew

I have many godchildren now, nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews.

Examples

  • The great-nephew takes to the old iron swing.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • And now, for my only surviving relative, my great-nephew, Darrin.

  • His great-nephew is too silent.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • And congratulations to my lovely neighbor and her really fantastic great-nephew.

    Blog text (3)
  • Now we have a grandson and great-nephew in Afghanistan.

    Blog text (11)
  • She said, "Well, of course, since my great-nephew is starting for the A's tonight."

    Blog text (3)
  • He was a great-nephew and will be greatly missed by his family.

    Blog text (5)
  • This is Fabrizio, your grandfather's great nephew.

  • I was delighted to be near my family, where I could be a part of the lives of my nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • My great-nephew loves playing soccer and often invites me to watch his games.

Synonyms

grandnephew
vsgreat-nephew
1 5.7

A son of your niece or nephew

is identical in meaning but written with a hyphen

How Close

nephew
431 1.0
great-nephew
3 3.2

Surface Forms

great-nephew singular
great-nephews plural

Morphology

great-nephew = great + nephew (semi-transparent) = great + nephew

Both components are real words, but the kinship meaning follows a conventional genealogical pattern ('great-' indicating an extra generation) that is not a freely productive semantic rule, so learners may not deduce the exact relation from the parts alone.

Etymology

Great-nephew is simply made from great and nephew. Think of great like in great-grandfather, where it means 'one generation further', so a great-nephew is the 'son of your niece or nephew'.