姪
mei[me̞i]
The Japanese word for "niece" is 姪 (mei).
The term is used to refer to a niece, whether she is the daughter of your brother or your sister.
Meaning: fraternal or sororal niece (noun)
Which one should you use?
The standard form is 姪, while the informal form めいっ子 is a playful and charming way to address a younger niece.
How do you pronounce it?
mei
Did you know?
- The historical spelling of 姪 was written as 売比, which was pronounced as 'mefi' in ancient times.
- The playful suffix 子 in めいっ子 is a common linguistic tool used to add a sense of 'cuteness' or 'smallness' to a relative, similar to how 'kiddo' works in English.
- The kanji 姪 contains the 'woman' radical on the left, visually reinforcing the gender of the relative even before the word is read.
Examples in context
- この子は私の姪です。This is my niece.This sentence shows how to introduce your niece using 姪.Tatoeba #11240561 by small_snow, translation #10701244 by AlanF_US
- メアリーは私の姪です。Mary's my niece.This sentence shows how to identify Mary as your niece using 姪.Tatoeba #3362375 by arnab, translation #1841597 by CK
- 最前列で絵を描いている女の子は私の姪です。The girl drawing a picture in the first row is my niece.This sentence illustrates how to identify a specific girl as your niece using 姪.Tatoeba #170409 by KK_kaku_, translation #244074 by CM
- 「姪が上手にピアノを弾くようになりました。」My niece has become skilled at playing the piano.
- 「可愛いめいっ子だね！」You're such an adorable little niece!
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui shows Ren a photo on her phone.
- 結衣 Yuiこの子は私の姪です。Kono ko wa watashi no mei desu.This child is my niece.
- 蓮 Renかわいいですね！Kawaii desu ne!She's cute!
- 結衣 Yuiそうなんです。姪に似てきました。Sou nan desu. Mei ni nite kimashita.She really is. She's starting to look like my niece.
- 蓮 Ren本当に似ていますね。Hontou ni nite imasu ne.She really does look like her.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “niece” translations and entries 姪, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 姪, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
