About
The character for nephew, now written as "侄" in its simplified form, originated from the traditional character "姪", which combined the woman radical "女" with the phonetic component "至". Originally denoting the children of one's brother within a patrilineal kinship system, its meaning was specifically tied to familial relations through the male line. Over centuries, the semantic scope adjusted, and in modern usage, it commonly refers to a brother's son, often clarified with gender-specific terms. The structural evolution from "姪" to "侄" involved a change in the radical from "女" to "亻", a shift that generalizes the reference from a female-associated term to a more neutral human category while retaining the phonetic element.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他是我的侄子。
我的侄子很聪明。
侄子喜欢打篮球。
昨天我见到了侄子。
因为侄子生病，所以我担心。
我的侄子比女儿更高。
每当侄子来我家，我们都会一起玩游戏。
尽管侄子还小，但他已经懂得照顾别人。