Nephew (Hastings' Dictionary)

In his Select Glossary (p. 146) Trench points out that the Eng. word ‘nephew’ has under- gone exactly the same change of meaning that nepos in Latin underwent. In the Augustan age nepos meant ‘ grandson,’ in the post-Augustan age sister’s or brother’s son. Nephew (which comes from nepos through the Fr. neveu, the original Anglo-Sax.

nefa having dropped out) formerl signified grandson or more generally some tenet ant, and only within a century or more came to be restricted to its present meaning. The meaning of ‘grandson’ is clearly seen in fiolland, Plutarch’s Morals, p.

555, ‘The warts, black moles, spots and freckles of fathers, not appearing at all upon their own children’s skin, begin afterwards to put forth and show themselves in their nephews, to wit, the children of their sons and daughters’; and in Tymme’s Calvin's Genesis, p. 872, ‘Jacob layeth his handes uppon his nephewes. To what end? Namely, to prove that he giveth them place among his sonnes, and that so, Joseph being but one, might make two heads.’ n AV the word occurs four times.

In Jg 191 ‘ He had forty sons and thirty nephews,’ the Heb. (03 23) is exactly expressed in AVm and RV ‘sons’ sons.’ In Job 1819 and Is 14% the Heb. (13)) is more general, ‘descendant.’ So also in 1 Ti δ' (écyovos), though in this place the meaning is clearly ‘grandchild’: ‘If any widow have children or nephews’ (RV ‘ grandchildren’). J. HasTines. NEPHTHAR