uncle

American  

[uhng-kuhl] / ˈʌŋ kəl /

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.

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idioms

1. say / cry uncle, to concede defeat.

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

uncle British  

/ 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

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uncle More Idioms  

1. see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.

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Other Word Forms

• uncleless adjective
• uncleship noun

Etymology

Origin of uncle

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 )

Example Sentences

His father and grandfather were in the Air Force and his uncle was in the Army.

From Los Angeles Times

After their exchange, the uncle was "very quiet… and left early", Sina says.

From BBC

"I tried to convince him to move back to Nepal, but he said he liked his job in Abu Dhabi, and that he had a good life," his uncle Ramesh told the BBC.

From BBC

“I know he’s my actual uncle, but why can’t he stay where the other strays do?”

From Literature

“But why would you say I reminded you of your stuffed dead uncle?”

From Literature

Related Words

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