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née

or nee

[ ney ]

adjective

  1. formerly known as (used following the person’s current or recognized name to introduce a previous, usually feminine, name):

    Jackie Kennedy Onassis, née Bouvier.



née

/ neɪ /

adjective

  1. indicating the maiden name of a married woman

    Mrs Bloggs née Blandish



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Gender Note

Née has long been used in English, as in French, to pair a woman’s married name with her maiden name. Since women are more likely to change their names in adulthood, the feminine-inflected form of this French word, spelled with a second letter e, is the one most widely used and recognized. While in French a man’s original name would be noted with the masculine form , some English speakers are only familiar with the form née. It is not uncommon to see this feminine form used for masculine names, or inanimate objects: the Tennessee Titans, née the Houston Oilers. On the other hand, because English has no gender inflection, it is normal for borrowed words to lose gender markings, so the masculine form is also sometimes seen modifying a woman’s name: Marilyn Monroe, né Norma Jean Mortensen.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of née1

First recorded in 1750–60; from French née, feminine of (past participle of naître “to be born”), ultimately derived from Latin nātus; nascent

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Word History and Origins

Origin of née1

C19: from French: past participle (fem) of naître to be born, from Latin nascī

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Example Sentences

Foot (née Bosanquet) created the original trolley problem in a 1967 article in the Oxford Review.

Nikki Haley, née Nimrata Randhawa, is almost assured of the Republican nomination for governor of the state of South Carolina.

Untrained artist H.A. Rey (né Hans Augusto Reyersbach) and his wife, photographer Margret (née Margarete Waldstein).

Mrs. Howell, née Dolores Maria Cortez, was that pathetic thing, a woman who had once been very beautiful.

Do you remember the pension bourgeoise of Madame Vauquer née de Conflans?

Marguerite de Peyrelade, née Pradines, was then summoned by the crier.

Mrs. Puffington, née Smith, was a tall handsome woman, who thought a good deal of herself.

The amazing difference which this made in the sentiments of Mrs. Phœbe Beecham, née Tozer, it is quite impossible to describe.

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tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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