Standard Lemma guide

nibling

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnɪblɪŋ/
  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: nĭbʹlĭng
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪblɪŋ
  • homophone: nibbling (one pronunciation)

1

noun

Meaning 1

Used especially as a gender-neutral term: the child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law; one's nephew or niece.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural, often

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nephling, niefling

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: nephew, niece

History

Etymology

Blend of nephew or niece + sibling, coined by the American linguist Samuel Elmo Martin (1924–2009) in 1951.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: пле́менниче (plémenniče) — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Cebuano: pag-umangkon — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Esperanto: genevo — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • French: nibling — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Greenlandic: soraluaq — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Ido: nevo — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Ilocano: kaanakan — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Italian: nipote — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Khmer: ក្មួយ (kmuəy) — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Korean: 조카 (joka) — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Latin: fratruelis — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Latin: nipote — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Latin: sobrin — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Latin: nepote — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Malay: penakan — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Malay: ponakan — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Polish: dziecko siostry lub brata — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Northern Sami: eahkit — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Northern Sami: čeahcit — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Northern Sami: neahpi — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Northern Sami: goaskit — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Northern Sami: muoŧŧál — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Spanish: sobrina — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Spanish: sobrino — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Spanish: sobrine — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Swedish: syskonbarn — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Swedish: brorsbarn — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Swedish: systerbarn — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Tagalog: pamangkin — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Turkish: yeğen — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Turkmen: ýegen — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Volapük: nef — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law
  • Zazaki: hêgan — gender-neutral term for child of one's sibling or sibling-in-law