Neve

//niːv// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Nephew. obsolete, rare

    "Iwein considers it his right and duty to avenge his neve, and is much exercised when Artûs proposes to go to the well with his full strength, for he apprehends that the king will give the distinction of the combat to his sister's son Gâwein."

  2. 2
    the upper part of a glacier (beyond the limit of perpetual snow) where the snow turns to ice wordnet
  3. 3
    A male cousin. obsolete, rare

    "Still another passenger on the same ship was Gysbert Philips from Velthuysen, 24 years old, a "neve" ( nephew or cousin) of Cornelia Wynkoop."

  4. 4
    A grandson. obsolete, rare
  5. 5
    A spendthrift. rare
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from Middle English.

Antonyms

All antonyms

Example

More examples

"Iwein considers it his right and duty to avenge his neve, and is much exercised when Artûs proposes to go to the well with his full strength, for he apprehends that the king will give the distinction of the combat to his sister's son Gâwein."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English neve, neave, from Old English nefa (“nephew, grandson”), from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew”), from Proto-Indo-European *népōts. Today mostly displaced by its cognate nephew (from Old French neveu). Compare nift (“niece”).

Etymology 2

* As an English, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish surname, from a descendant of Proto-Germanic *nefô (“nephew”). * As a French surname, from the placename En Nève, from En ève (“in water”), corresponding to modern en eau. * As an Italian, Portuguese, and Galician surname, from or related to neve (“snow”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.