uncle

[uhng-kuhl]

noun

1. a brother of one's father or mother.

2. an aunt's husband.

3. a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man.

4. Slang.,  a pawnbroker.

5. (initial capital letter),  Uncle Sam.

6. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U.

uncle

/ ˈʌŋkəl /

noun

1. a brother of one's father or mother

2. the husband of one's aunt

3. a term of address sometimes used by children for a male friend of their parents

4. slang,  a pawnbroker

Other Word Forms

• uncleless adjective
• uncleship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of uncle¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French uncle, Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus “mother's brother,” equivalent to av(us) “mother's father” + -unculus suffix extracted from diminutives of n-stems ( homunculus )

Word History and Origins

Origin of uncle¹

C13: from Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus; related to Latin avus grandfather

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. say / cry uncle, to concede defeat.

   They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.

see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.

Example Sentences

The second is appreciative and pays it back, as did my uncles who jumped into France and Corregidor during World War II. By the third generation, many are lazy and insufficiently grateful.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In Scipio’s adolescence, his father, uncle and cousin each served one-year consulships, the Roman Republic’s highest political office.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In the one-way broadcast channel, guests could only emoji-react, so the thread wasn’t cluttered with giant stickers or, say, off-color replies from an unfiltered uncle.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Within hours she was bundled into a car with her father and an uncle, and driven back to Madrid.

Read more on BBC

“My uncle struggled with, I think, feeling what he thought was normality as a gay person,” says Sykes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aunt 
• cousin 
• father 
• folk 
• mother 
• niece 
• sibling