uncle
English
Etymology
From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)). Displaced native Middle English em (“uncle”) from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, and Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”). Compare Saterland Frisian Unkel (“uncle”), Dutch nonkel (“uncle”), German Low German Unkel (“uncle”), German Onkel (“uncle”), Danish onkel (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.
Pronunciation
- enPR: ŭngʹkəl, IPA(key): /ˈʌŋ.kl̩/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌŋkəl
Noun
uncle (plural uncles)
- The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326, page 14:
- And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed.
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- The male cousin of one’s parent.
- (endearing) Used as a fictive kinship title for a close male friend of one's parent or parents.
- (euphemistic) Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.
- (figuratively) A source of advice, encouragement, or help.
- (Britain, informal, dated) A pawnbroker.
- December 1843, William Makepeace Thackeray, "Grant in Paris" (review), in Fraser's Magazine
- A chain hangs out of the pocket of his velvet waistcoat , by which we may conclude that he has a watch , though we have known many gents whose watches were at their uncle's (as the fashionable term for the pawnbroker goes)
- December 1843, William Makepeace Thackeray, "Grant in Paris" (review), in Fraser's Magazine
- (especially in the Southern US, parts of UK and South Asia) An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.
- (Southern US, slang, archaic) An older African-American male.
- 1850, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men
- Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great ears, — an immense talker.
- 1850, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men
- (Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, informal) Any middle-aged or elderly man older than the speaker and/or listener.
Synonyms
- (dialectal, Scotland) eam, eme
- (archaic or dialectal) nuncle
- (India, as a respectful term of address) uncleji
- (familiar or endearing) uncley, unclie, uncly
Antonyms
- (with regard to gender): aunt
- (with regard to ancestry): niece, nephew
- (African-American): boy
- (India): aunty
Hypernyms
- (sibling of someone's parent) auncle, pibling (both nonstandard)
Hyponyms
- (brother of someone’s father): paternal uncle
- (brother of someone’s mother): maternal uncle
- bruncle
- co-uncle
- cousin-uncle
- double uncle
- granduncle, great-granduncle, great-uncle
- guncle
- half-uncle, maternal half-uncle, paternal half-uncle
- step-uncle
- (uncle gained by marriage): uncle-in-law
Derived terms
- agony uncle
- auncle
- Bob's your uncle
- bruncle
- co-uncle
- cousin-uncle
- cry ~, holler ~, say ~
- double uncle
- Dutch uncle
- granduncle
- great-granduncle
- great-uncle
- guncle
- half-uncle
- if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle, if my uncle had tits, he'd be my aunt
- I'll be a monkey's uncle
- maternal half-uncle
- maternal uncle
- my sainted uncle
- nuncle
- paternal half-uncle
- paternal uncle
- step-uncle
- taxi uncle
- unclecide
- uncledom
- unclefucker
- unclehood
- uncle-in-law
- Uncle Joe
- uncleless
- unclely
- Uncle Ned
- uncle or aunt
- Uncle Sam
- Uncle Scrooge
- uncleship
- Uncle Sugar
- Uncle Tom
- Uncle Tomahawk
- Uncle Whiskers
- uncley, unclie, uncly
- unclish
Related terms
- avuncular, uncular
- avunculate
- avunculicide
- avunculism
- avunculocal
Descendants
- Bislama: angkel
- → Burmese: အန်ကယ် (ankai)
- ⇒ Chinese: 安哥 (āngē)
- → Hawaiian: ʻanakala
- → Hindi: अंकल (aṅkal)
- → Irish: uncail
- → Scottish Gaelic: uncail
- Tok Pisin: ankol
- Torres Strait Creole: ankel
- → Welsh: wncl
Translations
brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent
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See also: related paternal uncle and maternal uncle for more translations.
source of advice, encouragement, or help
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UK informal: pawnbroker — See also translations at pawnbroker
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close male friend of the parents
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form of address to a man by young people or children in some countries
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Interjection
uncle
- A cry used to indicate surrender.
Derived terms
- cry uncle
- say uncle
Verb
uncle (third-person singular simple present uncles, present participle uncling, simple past and past participle uncled)
- (transitive, colloquial) To address somebody by the term uncle.
- (intransitive, colloquial) To act like, or as, an uncle.
- 1979, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
- Betelgeuse Five, where he both fathered and uncled Ford
-
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “uncle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “uncle”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Anagrams
- Clune
Middle English
Alternative forms
- hunckyl, oncle, oncyll, ownkyll, uncul, uncull, unkele, unkle, unkyll
Etymology
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈunklə/, /ˈunkəl/
Noun
uncle (plural uncles or (rare) unclen)
- uncle (brother of one's parents)
- Synonym: em
Descendants
- English: uncle (see there for further descendants)
- Scots: uncle
References
- “uncle, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old French
Noun
uncle m (oblique plural uncles, nominative singular uncles, nominative plural uncle)
- (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of oncle
- c. 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou:
- D'ambes parz out filz e peres,
uncles, nevos, cosins e freres- On both sides there were sons and fathers,
Uncles, nephews, cousins and brothers
- On both sides there were sons and fathers,
- c. 1250, Marie de France, Chevrefeuille:
- Tristram en Wales se rala, tant que sis uncles le manda
- Tristan returned to Wales, while he waited for his uncle to call on him
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Scots
Alternative forms
- unkl, uncill, uncul, unkle, unckle, unkill, unckill, unkel, unkell, unckell, unkyll, unkll, unqil, unqill, wncle, wnkill, wnckill, wnkyll, wnkle, wnckle, wnckell, wankall
Etymology
From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)).
Noun
uncle (plural uncles)
- uncle
References
- “uncle” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.