uncle

CEFRA1

/ˈʌŋ.kl̩/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The male cousin of one’s parent.

Examples

  • I don't have much contact with my uncle.

  • Is your uncle still abroad?

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Used as a fictive kinship title for a close male friend of one's parent or parents.

  2. The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.

  3. Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.

More examples

In context

  • Where does your uncle live?

  • 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 un...

  • 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)

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

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Origin

noun

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...