neve

noun — 4 senses

neve

noun

/niːv/

Etymology From Middle English neve, neave, from Old English nefa (“nephew, grandson”), from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew”), from Proto-Indo-European *népōts. Today mostly displaced by its cognate nephew (from Old French neveu). Compare nift (“niece”). Doublet of nephew.

1

Obsolete, Rare Nephew.

  • Iwein considers it his right and duty to avenge his neve, and is much exercised when Artûs proposes to go to the well with his full strength, for he apprehends that the king will give the distinction of the combat to his sister's son Gâwein.1920, Wilhelm Robert Richard Pinger, Laurence Sterne and Goethe:
2

Obsolete, Rare A male cousin.

  • Still another passenger on the same ship was Gysbert Philips from Velthuysen, 24 years old, a "neve" ( nephew or cousin) of Cornelia Wynkoop.1988, Michael Tepper, New World immigrants:
3

Obsolete, Rare A grandson.

4

Rare A spendthrift.

Related terms
nift, nevvy, neffy

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.