great-nephew

The term "great-nephew" is a transparent English compound formed by attaching the intensifier "great" to the familial term "nephew." The word "nephew" itself has a long history, descending from the Latin nepōs, which broadly meant "descendant" or "grandson," a sense preserved in the etymology of "nepotism." In medieval European kinship terminology, "nephew" narrowed to specify a brother's or sister's son. The prefix "great," from Old English, was systematically applied in English (e.g., great-grandfather) to indicate a one-generation increment in lineal or collateral descent. Thus, "great-nephew" logically denotes the son of one's own nephew or niece, extending the familial line by one generation.

Structure: great (degree) + nephew (family relation) - great: From Old English grēat (coarse, thick, massive). In this context, it functions as a prefix indicating a degree of family relationship (one generation removed). - nephew: From Old French neveu, from Latin nepōs (grandson, nephew). It functions as the core noun denoting the specific family member.