NEE
(nay)
French
word meaning 'born' used to indicate the maiden name of a married
woman Common
clues:
Society page word; Formerly;
Name-dropper's word?; Wedding announcement word; Upper crust
word; Born; Once called; Miss-named? Crossword
puzzle frequency:
15 times a year Frequency
in English language:
26536 / 86800 Video: How
To Address A Wedding Invitation To A Married Couple If The Woman
Uses Her Maiden Name
Image
used with permission: donated by Martin
Ferdinando to the Ferdinand(o)
Family History Site:
We
don't see this word so often these days, but when we do it is
usually née.
It used to be that a recently married woman might be introduced
as "Julia Winters née Summers", where the née
indicated that her maiden name followed. Why, you ask?
Because née
is the feminine form of the past participle of French naître
"to be born", so that "Julia Winters née
Summers" means, literally, "Julia Winters born [Julia]
Summers". It first turns up in the written record in
1758.
From:
“Take
Our Word for It”,
Issue 169, page 2
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