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Archiver > GENBRIT > 2004-01 > 1073826553


From: Don Aitken <>
Subject: Re: Nephew double meaning
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 13:09:13 +0000
References: <Z%CLb.429$ir1.2691@newsfep4-glfd.server.ntli.net> <58euvv8in0aob0772p8n9fpfrfsv8dgnmv@4ax.com> <fqkvvvc2698i99l7t4groqud8fr3nbroi1@4ax.com> <ijrvvvcm81irjmd7famuo1sco3tnhobpu9@4ax.com> <MVXLb.422$YV1.383@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net>


On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 18:55:36 -0000, "W Johnson"
<> wrote:

>"Don Aitken" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>snipped
>> >Is this feasible? If nephew could be used for grandson then I assume
>> >niece could be used for grandaughter. But would "cousin" be used for
>> >great niece?
>>
>> I think both may be possible. Certainly both terms were once used in a
>> loose sense to refer to relatives. The problem is that I don't know of
>> any convenient source that helps much with dates for this kind of
>> thing. The OED records the *first* use of different meanings of words,
>> but makes no attempt to record when the various senses went out of use
>> - indeed it is difficult to imagine how that could reliably be done.
>snipped
>
>According to the Shorter OED, examples of the following have been found:
>
>1. nephew was used meaning niece up to 1585.
>2. nephew was used meaning grandson up to 1699.
>3. nephew was used meaning any descendant up to 1676.
>4. niece was used meaning a grand-daughter or more remote female descendant
>up to c.1600.
>5. a niece was used meaning any(i.e. not necessarily a descendant of oneself
>or a sibling) female relative up to 1508.
>
I think that "up to" is misleading. The policy, as I understand it, it
to include sufficient cites to establish the full range of meanings.
There is no implication that the cited use ceased at or soon after the
date of the last cite. Also, of course, the Oxford dictionaries deal
only in "written" usage; what people cutomarily *said* may not be the
same.

--
Don Aitken

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