Nepotism is giving jobs to your relatives rather than the best candidate. Accused of nepotism, blatant nepotism, nepotism in hiring.
The name is exact and historical: Renaissance popes appointed their nephews as cardinals often enough that the Italian for nephew gave the practice its name. It is distinguished from cronyism, which is favouring friends. Note that the Latin nepos means a nephew or a grandson.
1nounnepotismGiving jobs to your relatives rather than the best candidate.
“The boss was accused of nepotism when he gave his daughter the top job.”
nepotism is a form of favouritism.
Italian nepotismo comes from Latin nepos, a nephew, from popes appointing their nephews as cardinals.
Latin
nepōs — nephew
Italian
nepotismo
French
népotisme
English, today
nepotism
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA