grandniece

A grandniece is the daughter of a niece or nephew, making her the granddaughter of a person's sibling. The term belongs to standard British and American English but is used less often than the simpler word niece, particularly when the exact relationship has already been made clear. It can describe any such relative, regardless of age, and is especially useful in family histories, biographies, legal documents, and accounts of extended-family relationships. The prefix grand- indicates that the person is one generation beyond a niece or nephew. Confusion sometimes arises between a grandniece and a niece or a great-grandniece, but each term identifies a different degree of separation. Although grand-niece is sometimes seen, the unhyphenated form is the conventional dictionary spelling.

A grandniece is the daughter of one's niece or nephew. She is the granddaughter of one's sibling.

Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.

Where does grandniece come from?

Grandniece is a compound formed in English from the element grand- and the word niece. The first element comes through Old French from Latin grandis, meaning "large" or "great," while niece comes through Old French nece from Latin neptis. The compound uses the familiar family sense of grand- to indicate an additional generation rather than great size.

Related word forms

How grandniece is actually used

The term is standard in British and American English but is less common than niece. The unhyphenated spelling grandniece is standard, although grand-niece is also encountered in edited and informal usage.

Easily confused with grandniece

Rhymes with grandniece