nepos (Latin)

Where does "nepos" come from?

The Latin noun 'nepos', meaning 'a grandson', 'a granddaughter', 'a nephew', 'a niece', 'a descendant', or 'a spendthrift, prodigal', descends from the Proto-Italic form '*nepōts'[1]. This Proto-Italic term ultimately developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-European reconstruction '*népōts'[1][2].

Open questions

• The Proto-Italic and Proto-Indo-European ancestral forms are reconstructed linguistics constructs rather than directly attested historical words. [1] [2]

Full etymology tree

• nepos (Latin), 'a grandson'
  • inherited *nepōts (Proto-Italic), 'grandson'
    • derived *népōts (Proto-Indo-European), 'grandson'

Ancestors

• *nepōts (Proto-Italic)
• *népōts (Proto-Indo-European)

Sources

1. nepos (Latin) - Wiktionary
2. nepōts (Proto-Italic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris