Dictionary

nepotism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈnɛp.ə.tɪ.zəm/ (Canada, General-American)
• audio Queensland
• /ˈnep.ə.tə.zəm/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈnɛp.ə.tɪ.zəm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈniː.pə.tɪ.zəm/ (Received-Pronunciation, rare)
• /ˈnep.ə.tɪ.zəm/ (Australia)
• (US) audio

Etymology

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.

Meanings

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.
   • Mr Chen - a member of the national politburo as well as the Shanghai boss - is accused of nepotism and corruption on a grand scale: protecting political allies, granting preferment to his family and looting Shanghai's pension fund. 2006 September 27, “China airbrushes Chen”, in Financial Times:
   • Nepotism can get you very far in the world if you've got the right connections.
   • Now retailers even demand deslotting or failure fees, a penalty for trial products that fail to meet their sales objectives. The struggle over display space heavily favors the incumbents and encourages what might be called brand nepotism. 1989, Report on Business Magazine, volume 6, numbers 1-6, page 100:

Forms

Antonyms

meritocracy

Coordinates

cronyism

Deriveds

nepotism friend · antinepotism · nepotism baby

Relateds

nepotistic · nepotistical

Translations (61)

sv nepotism (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · az nepotizm (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr iltimas (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr torpil (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · mr घराणेशाही (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · de Nepotismus (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr kayırmacılık (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · fr népotisme (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · fr copinage (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cy neigarwch (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · pt nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · it nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr nepotizm (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ja 縁者贔屓 (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · nl vriendjespolitiek (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · sq nepotizëm (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · gl nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · hi भाई-भतीजावाद (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cy neiedd (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cmn 偏袒 (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · uk кумі́вство (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · es nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ru непоти́зм (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · bg шуробаджанащина (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · da nepotisme (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · io nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · sw upendeleo wa ndugu (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cs nepotismus (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · az qohumbazlıq (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · el οικογενειοκρατία (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ru кумовство́ (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · et onupojapoliitika (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · id nepotisme (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · mnk baadinfaasaa (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr kohumbazlık (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · et nepotism (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · uk непоти́зм (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · he נֶפּוֹטִיזְם (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · eo nepotismo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · hu nepotizmus (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · sv svågerpolitik (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cmn 任人唯親 /任人唯亲 (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cmn 裙帶關係 /裙带关系 (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ko 족벌주의 (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ga finíochas (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ro nepotism (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · pl nepotyzm (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr adam kayırma (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · es sobrinazgo (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ka ნეპოტიზმი (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · ca nepotisme (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · th คติเห็นแก่ญาติ (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · fi nepotismi (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · is frændhygli (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · tr kayırma (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · nl nepotisme (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · km ញាតិមិត្តនិយម (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cs rodinkářství (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · de Vetternwirtschaft (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · az tanışbazlıq (favoring of relatives or personal friends) · cs nepotizmus (favoring of relatives or personal friends)