nepotism

English · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

nepotism

  • /ˈnɛp.ə.tɪ.zəm/ UK
  • /ˈniː.pə.tɪ.zəm/ UK, rare
  • /ˈnɛp.ə.tɪ.zəm/ Canada, US
  • /ˈnep.ə.tɪ.zəm/ Australia
  • /ˈnep.ə.tə.zəm/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French népotisme, from Italian nepotismo, from Latin nepōs (“nephew”), a reference to the practice of popes appointing relatives (most often nephews) as cardinals (cardinal-nephew) during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

noun nepotisms

  1. countable, uncountable The favoring of relatives (most strictly) or also personal friends (more broadly) because of their relationship rather than because of their abilities. Nepotism can get you very far in the world if you've got the right connections.

    Opposite: meritocracy

Translations

Every language

noun favoring of relatives or personal friends

Españolnepotismo, sobrinazgo
한국어족벌주의 jokbeoljuui
日本語縁者贔屓 enjabiiki
中文偏袒 piāntǎn, 裙帶關係 /裙带关系 qúndài guānxì, 任人唯親 /任人唯亲 rènrénwéiqīn
हिन्दीभाई-भतीजावाद bhāī-bhatījāvād
Kiswahiliupendeleo wa ndugu
Portuguêsnepotismo
Françaisnépotisme, copinage
DeutschNepotismus, Vetternwirtschaft
Italianonepotismo
Ελληνικάοικογενειοκρατία oikogeneiokratía
Românănepotism
Русскийнепоти́зм nepotízm, кумовство́ kumovstvó
עבריתנֶפּוֹטִיזְם nepotizm

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"nepotism." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nepotism. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

nepotism. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nepotism

Chicago

"nepotism." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nepotism.

BibTeX
@misc{nepotism_2026,
  title = {nepotism},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nepotism},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}