uncle

English

• Uncle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology

Middle English uncle, from Anglo-Norman uncle, from Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus (“mother’s brother”; literally, “little grandfather”), diminutive of avus (“grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *awo- (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one's father”). Displaced native Middle English eam, eme (“maternal uncle”) (from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), compare Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”) from the same Proto-Indo-European root. More at eme.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ŭngʹkəl, IPA: /ˈʌŋ.kəl/, X-SAMPA: /"VN.k@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌŋkəl

Noun

uncle (plural uncles)

1. A brother or brother-in-law of someone’s parent.
   • 1907, Robert Chambers, chapter 1/2, The Younger Set^[1]:

     And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs […] peeped perfunctorily into the nursery […] and halted amazed.

   My uncle is an atheist

2. (euphemistic) A companion to your (usually unmarried) mother.
3. (figuratively) A source of advice, encouragement, or help.
4. (UK, informal) A pawnbroker.
5. (southern US and parts of UK, colloquial) A close male friend of the parents of a family.
6. (southern US, slang, archaic) an older male African-American person
7. (India, slang) An affectionate name for an older man.

Synonyms

• (dialectal, Scotland): eam, eme

Antonyms

• (with regard to gender): aunt
• (with regard to ancestry): niece, nephew
• (African-American): boy
• (India): aunty

Hyponyms

• (brother of someone’s father): paternal uncle
• (brother of someone’s mother): maternal uncle
• (uncle gained by marriage): uncle-in-law

Derived terms

• agony uncle
• Bob's your uncle
• cry uncle
• Dutch uncle
• grand-uncle
• great-uncle, great uncle
• holler uncle
• I'll be a monkey's uncle
• nuncle
• say uncle
• Uncle Sam
• Uncle Scrooge
• Uncle Tom

Related terms

• avuncular

Translations

• See: related paternal uncle and maternal uncle for more translations.

brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent

• Albanian: ungji (sq), xhaxha (sq), dajë (sq)
• Amharic: ኣጎት (am) (ʼagot)
• Arabic: (paternal) عم (ar) (ʿamm) m, (maternal) خال (ar) (xāl) m
• Armenian: հորեղբայր (hy) (horeġbayr) (paternal), քեռի (hy) (k'eṙi) (maternal)
• Asturian: tíu (ast) m
• Azeri: əmi (az), dayı (az)
• Bakhtiari: (paternal) کاکا (kâkâ)
• Baluchi: ناکو (náko), ماما (mámá), کاکہ (káka)
• Basque: osaba (eu)
• Belarusian: дзядзька (be) (dzjádzʹka) m, дзядзя (be) (dzjádzja) m
• Breton: eontr (br) m
• Bulgarian: (paternal) чичо (bg) (čičo) m, стрико (bg) (striko) m (regional, non-standard); (maternal) вуйчо (bg) (vujčo) m, калеко (bg) (kaleko) m (regional), свако (bg) (svako) m (last two may also apply to the husband of the paternal aunt)
• Catalan: oncle (ca) m, tio (ca) m
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (father’s elder brother) 伯父 (cmn) (bófù), 伯伯 (cmn) (bóbo); (father’s younger brother) 叔父 (cmn) (shúfù), 叔叔 (cmn) (shúshu); (father's brother-in-law) 姑父 (cmn) (gūfù), 姑丈 (cmn) (gūzhàng); (maternal) 舅父 (cmn) (jiùfù), 舅舅 (cmn) (jiùjiu); (mother's brother-in-law) 姨父 (cmn) (yífù), 姨丈 (cmn) (yízhàng)

  Teochew: (father’s elder brother) a-beh4, beh4; (father’s younger brother) a-zêg4, zêg4; (father's brother-in-law) a1-dion6, dion6; (maternal) a1-gu6, gu6; (mother's brother-in-law) a1-dion6, dion6 (mother's brother-in-law)

• Chinook Jargon: tot
• Crimean Tatar: dayı
• Czech: strýc (cs) m
• Dalmatian: naul m
• Danish: onkel (da) c, farbror (da) c (paternal), morbror (da) c (maternal)
• Dutch: oom (nl) m, (Flemish) nonkel (nl) m
• Esperanto: onklo (eo)
• Estonian: onu (et)
• Ewe: tɔgã (father's elder brother), tɔɖe (father's younger brother), wɔfa (maternal)
• Finnish: setä (fi) (paternal), setäpuoli (fi) (father's brother-in-law), eno (fi) (maternal); enopuoli (fi) (mother's brother-in-law)
• French: oncle (fr) m, tonton (fr) m (informal)
• Friulian: barbe
• Georgian: ბიძა (ka) (bija)
• German: Onkel (de) m, (archaic) Oheim (de) m
• Gooniyandi: ngaboo
• Greek: θείος (el) (thíos) m
• Greenlandic: akkaq (kl), akka (kl) (paternal), anga (kl) (maternal)
• Hebrew: דּוֹד (he) (dod) m
• Hindi: (father's younger brother) चाचा (hi) (cācā) m, (father's elder brother) ताया (hi) (tāyā) m, (maternal) मामा (hi) (māmā), (generic) अंकल (hi) (aṅkal) m
• Hungarian: nagybácsi (hu)
• Icelandic: föðurbróðir (is) m (paternal), móðurbróðir (is) m (maternal)
• Ido: onklulo (io)
• Indonesian: paman (id), om (id)
• Interlingua: oncle (ia)
• Irish: uncail (ga) m
• Italian: zio (it) m
• Japanese: (older) 伯父 (ja) (oji, hakufu) (humble); 伯父さん (ja) (ojisan); (polite); 伯父貴 (ja) (ojiki) (honorific) (younger) 叔父 (ja) (oji, shukufu) (humble); 叔父さん (ja) (ojisan) (polite); 叔父貴 (ja) (ojiki) (honorific)
• Kabyle: zizi m
• Kazakh: немере аға (kk) (nemere ağa)
• Korean: 아저씨 (ko) (ajeossi)
• Krisa: tani baʼ (father's elder brother), tani pung (father's younger brother), wini (maternal)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: مام (ku) (mam) (paternal), خاڵ (ku) (xall) (maternal)

  Kurmanji: apo (ku)

• Latgalian: dzedzeits
• Latin: patruus (la) m (paternal), avunculus (la) m (maternal)
• Latvian: tēvocis (lv), (paternal) tēva brālis (lv), (maternal) mātes brālis (lv)
• Lithuanian: dėdė (lt)
• Lojban: famti (jbo)
• Macedonian: тетин (mk) (tétin) m, чичко (mk) (číčko) m, вујко (mk) (vújko) m, стрико (mk) (stríko) m
• Malay: pakcik (ms), bapa saudara (ms)
• Malayalam: അമ്മാവന്‍#Malayalam|അമ്മാവന്‍]]]] ml:അമ്മാവന്‍|(ml)]] (ammaavan), മാമന്‍ (ml), (father's elder brother) വല്യച്ചന്‍ (ml) (valyachchan), (father's younger brother) ചെറിയച്ചന്‍ (ml) (cheriyachchan)
• Marathi: (mother's brother) मामा (mr) (māmā) m, (father's brother) काका (mr) (kākā) m
• Meriam: bab
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Montana Salish: smamáʔ
• Nama: ǁnaosab
• Northern Sami: čeahci (father's younger brother), eahki (father's elder brother), eanu (mother's brother), máhka (relative's husband)
• Occitan: oncle (oc), quenque (oc)
• Old English: fædera (ang) m (paternal), ēam (ang) m (maternal)
• Old French: oncle m
• Persian: عمو (fa) ('amu), دائی (fa) (dâ'i), خالو (fa) (xâlu)
• Pitjantjatjara: mama maḻatja (parent’s younger brother); mama puḻka (parent’s older brother)
• Polish: stryj (pl) m, stryjek (pl) m, wuj (pl) m, wujek (pl) m
• Portuguese: tio (pt) m
• Romanian: unchi (ro)
• Romansch: aug (rm) m, barba (rm)
• Russian: дядя (ru) (djádja) m, (can be unfriendly) дядька (ru) (djádʹka) m
• Sardinian: tiu (sc), ciu (sc), tziu (sc)
• Scottish Gaelic: bràthair-athar (gd) m (parental), bràthair-màthar (gd) m (maternal), uncail (gd) m (with proper name)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: (paternal) стриц (sh) m, чичa (sh) m, амиџа (sh) m (regional, non-standard); (parent's brother-in-law) тетак (sh) m, течa (sh) m, течо (sh) m; (maternal) ујак (sh) m, даиџа (sh) m (regional, non-standard)

  Roman: (paternal) stric (sh) m, čiča (sh) m, amidža (sh) m (regional, non-standard); (parent's brother-in-law) tetak (sh) m, teča (sh) m, tečo (sh) m; (maternal) ujak (sh) m, daidža (sh) m (regional, non-standard)

• Seri: aaitz (younger)
• Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: stric (sl) m, dundo (sl) m
• Spanish: tío (es) m
• Swedish: onkel (sv) c; farbror (sv) c (paternal); (father's brother-in-law) far (sv)s svåger (sv) c, ingift (sv) farbror (sv) c; morbror (sv) c (maternal); (mother's brother-in-law) mor (sv)s svåger (sv) c, ingift (sv) morbror (sv) c
• Talysh:

  Asalemi: عمو (amu)

• Tamil: (mama), பெரியப்ப (ta) (Peri'yappa) (parent’s elder brother), சிதப்ப (ta) (Chi'thappa) (parent’s younger brother)
• Thai: ลุง (th) (lung)
• Tibetan: ཨ་ཞང (bo) (a zhang) (maternal uncle), ཨ་ཁུ (bo) (a khu) (paternal uncle)
• Torres Strait Creole: ankel
• Turkish: amca (tr) (paternal), dayı (tr) (maternal), enişte (tr) (in-law)
• Tuvan: аккызы (akkyzy), даайы (daajy)
• Ukrainian: дядько (uk) (djádʹko) m
• Urdu: (father's younger brother) چچا (ur) (cācā) m
• Vietnamese: bác (vi) (North, elder), chú (vi) (North, younger), cậu (vi) (South, both elder and younger)
• Volapük: hiter (vo), ziom (vo)
• Welsh: ewythr (cy)
• West Frisian: omme (fy), omke (fy) m

source of advice, encouragement, or help

• Armenian: քեռի (hy) (k‘eŕi)
• Breton: eontr da-heul (br) m
• Czech: strýček (cs) m
• Dutch: oompje (nl) m, suikeroom (nl) m

• Finnish: kummisetä (fi)
• Portuguese: tio (pt) m
• Russian: дядя (ru) (djádja) m

UK informal: pawnbroker

See also pawnbroker

• Albanian: fajdexhi (sq)
• Danish: onkel (da) c

• Dutch: pandjesbaas (nl) m
• Russian: ростовщик (ru) (rostovščík) m

close male friend of the parents

• Albanian: xhaxha (sq), bacë (sq)
• Catalan: tio (ca) m
• Czech: strýček (cs) m
• Finnish: setä (fi)

• Portuguese: tio (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: чико (sh) m, чика (sh) m

  Roman: čiko (sh) m, čika (sh) m

form of address to a man by young people or children in some countries

• Belarusian: дзядзька (be) (dzjádz'ka) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 叔叔 (cmn) (shūshu)

• Japanese: おじさん (ja) (oji-san)
• Korean: 아저씨 (ko) (ajeossi)

• Marathi: काका (mr) (kākā) m
• Portuguese: tio (pt) m
• Russian: дядя (ru) (djádja) m
• Ukrainian: дядько (uk) (djád'ko) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: eontr m (1,2), eontr da-heul (3,4), tonton (br) m (child’s language)
• Bulgarian: чичо (čičo) m (1), вуйчо (vujčo) m (2)
• Georgian: ბიძა (bidza)
• Guaraní: tuty (2)
• Ido: onklo (io)

• Indonesian: oom (id)
• Korean: 아저씨 (ajeossi), 삼촌 (samchon)
• Romanian: unchi m
• Slovak: strýc, strýko (1), ujo, učok (2) m, svák (3,4) m
• Swahili: baba mkubwa, mdogo (1), mjomba (2)
• Telugu: (mAma) మామ (te), (redanAna) పెదనాన (te), (bAbAyi) బాబాయి (te)
• Tupinambá: uba (t-, t-) (1), tutyra (2)

Interjection

uncle

1. A cry used to indicate surrender.

References

• “uncle” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001). [2]
• "uncle" in Merriam-Webster

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Old French

Noun

uncle m (oblique plural uncles, nominative singular uncles, nominative plural uncle)

1. uncle
   • circa 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

   • circa 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