Having just become an uncle for the fourth time, I have been wondering whether there is a generic noun of common gender to describe nephews and nieces, akin to the usage of “sibling” for a brother/sister or “spouse” for a husband/wife ?
It’s a very obscure word, but nepotati means that. (It’s from the Latin nepote, meaning nephew [and the root of ‘nepotism’].) Unfortunately nobody would know what you were talking about.
In genealogy descendants of siblings are referred to as “collateral descendants”, but that takes just as much breath as saying “my nephews and nieces”.
Very obscure would be no one knowing it, but that word isn’t in any of the dictionaries I looked at. Where did you find it? Are you sure it’s been used in the english language?
The OED online lists an adjectival form of the word (nepotal, a.: Of, relating to, of the nature of, or characteristic of a nephew or nephews.), but no equivalent noun form. The closest it gets is nepote or nepos, but both are obscure and only relate to nephews/male grandchildren. Nepotati doesn’t show up. So it doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere from that root.
Kin, but that might be too broad.
I call mine “neflings”; I can’t remember what language I got that from, but it fits.
Now if I just knew a word for aunts and uncles.
In my family, we’ve always called them “niblings”.
I’ve been using “niecephews” for years and never have anyone not know what I was talking about.
I think Never Have I Because I should change his name to this.