Nibling

A nibling is the offspring of one's sibling, i.e. a nephew or niece. It is a neologism first used in 1951 to refer to a niece or a nephew,[1] or in other words, the child of one's sibling. The term is gender-neutral and provides convenience for referring to a mixed group of nieces and nephews. "I bought my niblings a board game for Christmas."[2]

Culture

In some cultures and family traditions, it's common to refer to one's first cousin once removed (the child of one's cousin), as a niece or nephew. In archaic terminology, a maternal nephew is called a sister-son, emphasizing the importance as a person's nearest male relative should he have no brothers or sons of his own. The term is used to describe some knights who are nephews to King Arthur and is imitated by J. R. R. Tolkien, especially in lists of Kings of Rohan or dwarves where the sister-son is also heir. Sister-daughter is a less common parallel term for niece.

See also

References

  1. Conklin, Harold C. (1964). "Ethnogenealogical Method". In Goodenough, W. H. Explorations in Cultural Anthropology: Essays in Honor of George Peter Murdock. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 25–55.
  2. Berkeley Studies in Syntax and Semantics. 1974. p. 15.

External links

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