Words We're Watching: 'Nibling' - Merriam-Webster

Are you sick of the long phrase 'nieces and nephews'? ... term used to refer to a child of one's sibling as a replacement for "niece" or "nephew". Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut WordsWe'reWatching WordsWe'reWatching:'Nibling' Anefficientwordforyoursibling'skids WhattoKnow Niblingisagender-neutraltermusedtorefertoachildofone'ssiblingasareplacementfor"niece"or"nephew".Thewordisthoughttohavebeencoinedintheearly1950s,butwasrelativelyobscureforseveraldecadesbeforebeingrevivedinrecentyears. Areyousomeonewhohasasiblingorsiblingswithmultipleoffspringofvaryinggendersyou'dliketorefertoefficiently?Wouldyoulikeasinglewordthatcouldapplygenerallytoallofthem,betheyinfants,weeones,tweenorteenones,orevenfull-blownadults?Perhapsyou'dappreciateawordthatwassomethinglikethewordsiblingitself,whichrefersquiteneatlytotheotherchildrenofone'sparents,regardlessofgender. Well,wehavesomenews:suchawordexists.It'snotyetenteredinourdictionaries,butit'soutthere,andit'sbeingusedwithincreasingfrequency:nibling. MerriamandWebster:America'sFunUncles That'sright:nibling.Itsiblingcomesfromsibling,ofcourse,anditsncomesfromnieceandnephew. OriginsofNibling Theword'scoinageiswidelycreditedtoSamuelE.Martin,aprofessorofFarEasternlinguisticsatYaleUniversitywhoisbetterknownformanythings,amongthemdevelopingaromanizationsystemfortransliteratingKorean.Theyear1951iscommonlyattachedtohiscoinage,butwe'vebeenunabletofindtheprimarysourceinformation. Nibling,however,mostlylanguishedinlinguisticobscurityforitsfirstfivedecadesofexistence.Merriam-WebsterreceivedaletterfromawriterinBlain,Pennsylvania,concerningthetermin1996,butthereplyourcorrespondentreceivedinformedhimthatwehadnoevidenceofitinuse. IncreaseinUseandPopularity Asthepreviousmillenniumhasreceded,however,niblinghasstartedtoshowsignsoflife.Wereceivedanotherletterconcerningthewordin2005,thistimefromacorrespondentinFt.Lauderdale.Andevidenceofthewordinusebegantoappearinprintaswell,thoughmoreoftenontheothersideoftheproverbialpond: SchoolchildreninPaultonarecampaigningtogetanewwordintotheEnglishdictionary.Theyareurgingfriendsandfamilytousetheword'niblings'insteadofthephraseniecesandnephewsinanattempttoearnitaplaceintheOxfordEnglishDictionary.—ChrisAllen,TheBristol(UK)Post,30Apr.2004 TheGuardianrecentlypublishedareportonawomantalkingabouther"auntistic"relationshipwithher"niblings."YouquicklyrealisethatthewordswrappedinICsare"notrealwords"inthesenseofexistingindictionaries(thoughthatmaychange).Yettheirmeaningsareclear:"auntistic"inthemannerofanaunt;"nibling"aningenious,gender-neutralcollectiveterm,onthemodelof"sibling,"fornephewsandnieces.—RuthWajnryb,TheSydney(Australia)MorningHerald,19June2004 In2005,niblingwasarunner-upintheNewWordChallengeoftheIndependentonSunday(London)newspaper,acontestrunincollaborationwiththegoodpeopleatCollinsDictionary.ThewordisinfactenteredintheCollinsDictionary,albeitasof2012,andasauser-submittedterm.Its"ApprovalStatus"is"PendingInvestigation." Examplesclosertohomeexistaswell: Inarecentcolumn,Ibemoanedthelackofagender-neutraltermforniecesandnephews.LillianKezerianofHartfordalreadyhasone—"niblings.""It'snotoriginalwithme,"shewrites,"andIhonestlydon'trememberwhereIfirstsawit.Myniecesandnephewshavelikedit."—RobKyff,TheHartford(Connecticut)Courant,23May2006 Astheseconddecadeofthenewcenturycomestoaclose,thewordcontinuestobemorecommonintheUK(andelsewhere)thanintheUS,butitisshowingsomesignsofincreasedusehereaswell.In2018thewordwasfeaturedinatriviaquizinTheToledo(Ohio)Blade:"Intheworldoffamilyrelationships,whatisa'nibling'?"Theanswerwas"anieceornephew." ButinBritishsources,thetermisundeniablylessmysterious: ShelookeddelightedtobespendingtimewithhergoddaughterLeonor,whoisthedaughterofherbrotherAndréSampaio,andwasborninFebruary2017….herdarlingnibling…—nobyline,TheDailyMail(UK),4Nov.2018 Thisishowitgoesformynephewsandnieces(henceforth,niblings)eachChristmasmorn,whenmypackagesfinallyreachtheirgrubbylittlepaws.IssueddirectlyfromtheNorthPole,thesearetheirown,personalandprivatelettersfromSantaClaus…—SéamasO'Reilly,TheObserver(London),16Dec.2018 Ifniblinghasformostofitshistorymerelyputteredalong,itisnowmovingwithnewpurpose.Whileinitiallyconsideredusefulforitsefficiency,asseenintheSéamasO'Reillyquoteimmediatelyabove,itisnowincreasinglycalleduponasameanstogenderaccuracy: My"nibling,"thegender-neutraltermfornepheworniece,isneithermalenorfemale,butboth.—"ProudAunt,""AskAmy"inTheChicagoTribune,9Jan.2014 Therewasthatbenevolentlookforhisgenderqueer"nibling"(read:gender-neutralnieceornephew).Itwasbig-eyedandfullofwonderwithasmilethatgaveyouwarmth.—JoeyHood,TheNashville(Tennessee)Scene,23June2016 Another[fan]suggestedtheterm"nibling"tothesinger,whichiswidelyconsideredagender-neutraltermforasibling'schild.—ChantalDaSilva,TheIndependent(UK),24July2017 PokearoundabitontheInternetandyouwillfindthatitispoppingupallover,andbeingembracedwithpleasure.Thefutureofniblingatthispointlooksprettybright. 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