uncle

American  

[uhng-kuhl] / ˈʌŋ kəl /

noun

• uncles
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• uncleship
  noun
• uncleless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• uncles
  plural

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 ( see homunculus)

Explanation

Your uncle is your parent's brother, or the man who marries one of your parent's siblings. Your favorite uncle might teach you to play chess or take you to amusement parks. Usually, an uncle is a relative — the brother of your mother, for example, or your dad's step-brother. It's also common in many cultures to have honorary uncles who are close family friends. From your uncle's perspective, you are either his niece or nephew. Colloquially, when you say or cry uncle, you're admitting defeat: "I'll let go of your arm when you say uncle!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

uncle uncles

It was years later when Anderson's uncle, Davis, started talking and according to police, blew the case wide open again.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

The niece was watching the World Cup on TV in Queens when she heard from a friend that her uncle had "burned himself" in front of the United Nations in Manhattan.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Ojeda Durán, the former navy chief and uncle of Los Primos, has been cleared in the scandal, Sheinbaum has said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

The stock market isn’t your rich uncle, and paper profits can go up in smoke at any moment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Our uncle comes in balancing a couple of pizza boxes in one hand and carrying a bag in the other.

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Zhu grew up near Hunan province’s capital Changsha and was raised by uncles, since he never knew his father and his mother died before he turned 10.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

According to Ugen and Choedup, one of his uncles died in combat and another in prison after his capture while fighting for Chushi Gangdruk, an anti-China guerrilla force established with CIA support in 1958.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Her earliest boxing influences were her uncles, Sandeep Singh and Parvinder Singh.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

While his father had little interest in education, Marcus found academic inspiration in two uncles who were doctors, a great-uncle who could speak nine languages and, mostly, his mother.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

“It’s such a sad situation. The children’s parents are both dead. No uncles, no aunts, no living relatives.”

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Related Words

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