We tend to use the word "nepotismo" when someone who has a good position into the goverment gives some privileges to his / her family or relatives. I wonder, where does it come from?
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1 Answer
It comes from the Latin word nepos (pl. nepōtes) which originally meant grandson and later evolved to mean descendent generally and nephew specifically. That latter meaning is used in Italian which derived the word with the -ismo ending to describe the practice of giving favor to one's nephews (and later extended in meaning more generally to all family members) as a result of 17th century popes giving cardinalships to their nephews.
I'm not sure if it entered into Spanish directly via the Italian nepotismo or via the French népotisme, though, although it could have been both simultaneously.
answered Feb 25, 2019 at 4:14
