aunt

English

Etymology

From Middle English aunte, from Anglo-Norman aunte, from Old French ante, from Latin amita (“father's sister”). Displaced native Middle English modrie (“aunt”) (from Old English mōdriġe (“maternal aunt”); compare Old English faþu, faþe (“paternal aunt”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New England, AAVE, some other US areas) enPR: änt, IPA^(key): /ɑ(ː)nt/

  Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɑːnt

  Homophone: aren't (in some non-rhotic accents)

• (Northern England, Canada, General American) enPR: ănt, IPA^(key): /ænt/ (in the US, this is the most common pronunciation in all regions except New England and Virginia)

  Rhymes: -ænt

  Homophone: ant

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Southern Hiberno-English) IPA^(key): /æːnt/ (not homophonous with "ant")
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ant/
• (Canada, Maritimes) IPA^(key): /ɒnt/

  Rhymes: -ɒnt

• (New England) enPR: ônt, IPA^(key): /ɔnt/

  Rhymes: -ɔːnt

• (Southern American English, occasionally) IPA^(key): /eɪnt/

  Homophone: ain't

Noun

aunt (plural aunts)

1. The sister or sister-in-law of one’s parent.
   • 1923, P.G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves:

     As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the clan has a tendency to ignore me.

2. (endearing) The female cousin of one’s parent.
3. (endearing) A woman of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.
4. (obsolete) Any elderly woman.
5. (obsolete) A procuress or bawd.

Synonyms

• auntie, aunty (diminutive)
• auntyji (India, as a respectful term of address)
• naunt (nonstandard, proscribed, dated)

Antonyms

• (with regard to gender) uncle
• (with regard to ancestry) niece, nephew

Hypernyms

• (sibling of someone's parent) auncle, pibling (nonstandard)

Hyponyms

• aunt-in-law
• co-aunt
• cousin-aunt
• double aunt
• grandaunt, great-grandaunt, great-aunt
• half aunt, maternal half aunt, paternal half aunt
• second aunt
• (sister of someone's father) paternal aunt
• (sister of someone's mother) maternal aunt
• stepaunt

 

Derived terms

• agony aunt, agony auntie, agony aunty
• auntcest
• auntdom
• Aunt Emma
• Aunt Flo
• aunt fucker
• aunthood
• aunticide
• Auntie
• auntie, aunty
• Auntie Beeb
• aunting
• aunt-in-law
• auntish
• Aunt Jane
• Aunt Jemima
• auntless
• auntlike
• auntly
• Aunt Minnie
• aunt nell
• auntness
• Aunt Sally
• auntship
• Aunt Thomasina
• auntyish
• auntyji
• co-aunt
• cousin-aunt
• double aunt
• grandaunt
• great-aunt
• great-grandaunt
• half aunt
• if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle, if my uncle had tits, he'd be my aunt
• kopi auntie, kopi aunty
• maiden-auntish, maiden-auntishness
• maternal aunt
• maternal half aunt
• mine aunt
• my aunt Fanny
• my giddy aunt
• my sainted aunt
• naunt
• paternal aunt
• paternal half aunt
• please excuse my dear Aunt Sally
• second aunt
• stepaunt
• summon auntie
• uncle or aunt

 

Descendants

• → Irish: aint

Translations

Several languages distinguish between blood aunts (one’s parent’s sister) and in-law aunts (one’s parent’s sister-in-law), some distinguish between paternal and maternal aunts, and some distinguish between one’s parent’s older siblings and younger siblings.

a parent’s sister or sister-in-law

• Abinomn: nyebak
• Afrikaans: tante (af)
• Albanian: teze (sq), emtë (sq), hallë (sq)
• Alutor: ыссэ (əsse)
• Amharic: ኣከስት (ʾakästə)
• Arabic: (father's sister) عَمَّة‎ (ar) f (ʿamma), (mother's sister) خَالَة‎ (ar) f (ḵāla), (wife of father's brother) زَوْجةُ العَمّ‎ (zawjatu l-ʿamm); (wife of mother's brother) زَوْجةُ الخال‎ (zawjatu l-ḵāl)
• Armenian: հորաքույր (hy) (horakʿuyr) (paternal), մորաքույր (hy) (morakʿuyr) (maternal), քեռակին (hy) (kʿeṙakin) (in law)
• Assamese: পেহী (pehi), জেঠাই (zethai), মাহী (mahi), খুৰী (khuri), বৰমা (boroma)
• Asturian: tía (ast) f
• Azerbaijani: xala (az), bibi (az)
• Bakhtiari: (paternal) کچی‎ (keči)
• Basque: izeba (eu), izeko (eu)
• Belarusian: цётка f (cjótka), цёця f (cjócja)
• Bengali: (mother's sister) খালা (bn) (khala), (father's sister) ফুফু (bn) (phuphu), (wife of father's brother) চাচী (bn) (caci), (wife of mother's brother) মামী (bn) (mami), মাসী (maśi), মাসীমা (maśima), কাকিমা (kakima), কাকি (kaki), খুড়ি (khuṛi)
• Breton: moereb (br) f
• Bulgarian: ле́ля (bg) f (lélja)
• Burmese: ဒေါ်ကြီး (my) (dau-kri:) (elder sister of one's father or mother), ကြီးတော် (my) (kri:tau) (mother's elder sister), ဒေါ်လေး (my) (daule:) (younger sister of one's father or mother), အဒေါ် (my) (a.dau) (younger sister of one's mother), ထွေးလေး (my) (htwe:le:) (mother's younger sister), ထွေးတော် (my) (htwe:tau), အရီး (my) (a.ri:)
• Catalan: tia (ca) f
• Central Dusun: inai
• Chichewa: bambo wamkazi (father's sister), mayi (mother's sister), mayi wamkulu (mother's older sister), mayi wamng'ono (mother's younger sister)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 姑媽 (yue), 姑妈 (gu¹ maa¹) (father's elder sister), 姑姐 (yue) (gu¹ ze¹) (father's younger sister), 伯娘 (baak³ noeng⁴) (father's elder brother's wife), 阿嬸, 阿婶 (aa³ sam²) (father's younger brother's wife), 姨媽 (yue), 姨妈 (ji⁴ maa¹) (mother's elder sister), 阿姨 (aa³ ji^4-1) (mother's younger sister), 舅母 (yue) (kau⁵ mou⁵) (mother's brother's wife)

  Mandarin:

  (father's sister): 姑 (zh) (gū), 姑媽 (zh), 姑妈 (zh) (gūmā), 姑姑 (zh) (gūgu), 姑母 (zh) (gūmǔ)

  (father's elder brother's wife): 伯母 (zh) (bómǔ), 大娘 (zh) (dàniáng)

  (father's younger brother's wife): 叔母 (zh) (shúmǔ), 嬸母 (zh), 婶母 (zh) (shěnmǔ), 嬸嬸 (zh), 婶婶 (zh) (shěnshen)

  (mother's sister): 姨 (zh) (yí), 姨媽 (zh), 姨妈 (zh) (yímā), 阿姨 (zh) (āyí), 姨母 (zh) (yímǔ);

  (mother's brother's wife): 舅母 (zh) (jiùmǔ), 舅媽 (zh), 舅妈 (zh) (jiùmā), 妗母 (zh) (jìnmǔ), 妗子 (zh) (jìnzi)

• Chinook Jargon: kwalh
• Cornish: modrep
• Czech: teta (cs) f
• Danish: tante (da), faster (da) (father's sister), moster (da) (mother's sister)
• Dutch: tante (nl) f
• Esperanto: onklino (eo)
• Estonian: tädi (et)
• Ewe: (paternal) tasi, te, (mother's elder sister) dagã, nɔgã, (mother's younger sister) daɖia, nɔɖi
• Faroese: fastir f (paternal), mostir f (maternal)
• Finnish: täti (fi) (paternal or maternal, sometimes in-law)
• French: tante (fr) f, tatie (fr) f (informal)
• Friulian: agne f
• Galician: tía f
• Georgian: დეიდა (ka) (deida), მამიდა (ka) (mamida)
• German: Tante (de) f
• Greek: θεία (el) f (theía)

  Ancient: θεία f (theía), τηθίς f (tēthís)

• Greenlandic: aja (maternal), atsa (paternal)
• Gunwinggu: berluh (paternal), karrang (mother's younger sister), morlah (mother's older sister)
• Hawaiian: makuahine, ʻanakē
• Hebrew: דּוֹדָה‎ f (dóda)
• Hindi: बूआ (hi) f (būā) (father's sister), मौसी (hi) f (mausī) (mother's sister), चाची (hi) f (cācī) (father's brother's wife), मामी (hi) f (māmī) (mother's brother's wife), फूफी (hi) f (phūphī) (father's sister)
• Hungarian: nagynéni (hu)
• Icelandic: föðursystir (is) f (paternal), móðursystir (is) f (maternal)
• Ido: onklino (io)
• Indonesian: bibi (id), tante (id)

  Sundanese: ébé

• Irish: aintín f
• Istriot: gnagna f
• Italian: zia (it) f
• Japanese: おば (ja) (oba), (younger than one’s parent): 叔母 (ja) (おば, oba), (older than one’s parent): 伯母 (ja) (おば, oba)
• Kapampangan: dara
• Kashmiri: پۄپھ‎ (ks) (pọph) (father's sister), پیٚچھَنؠ‎ (ks) (pechan') (father’s brother’s wife), ماس‎ (ks) (mās) (mother's sister), مامَنؠ‎ (ks) (māman') (mother’s brother’s wife)
• Kazakh: апа (kk) (apa), апай (kk) (apay)
• Khoekhoe: antis
• Kis: omoigwa
• Korean: 고모 (ko) (gomo) (paternal), 이모 (ko) (imo) (maternal)
• Krisa: wini (paternal), moni baʼ (mother's elder sister), moni pung (mother's younger sister)

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پوور‎ (ku) (pûr)

  Northern Kurdish: xaltî (ku), met (ku)

  Southern Kurdish: میمِگ‎ (mîmig)

• Latgalian: cjoceite
• Latin: amita (la) (paternal), mātertera (la) (maternal)
• Latvian: tante, (paternal) tēva māsa, (maternal) mātes māsa
• Lithuanian: teta f
• Luhya: senge
• Luxembourgish: Tatta (lb) f
• Macedonian: тетка (mk) f (tetka)
• Malay:

  Rumi: emak saudara, mak cik, tante

  Jawi: امق ساودارا‎, مق چيق‎, تنتى‎

• Malayalam: അമ്മായി (ml) (ammāyi), (colloquial) മേമ (mēma), മാമി (ml) (māmi), (father's elder sister) വല്യമ്മ (valyamma), (father's younger sister) ചെറിയമ്മ (ml) (ceṟiyamma)
• Maori: whaea kēkē, whaene
• Marathi: (mother's sister) माउशी f (māuśī), (mother's sister-in-law) मामी (mr) f (māmī), (father's sister) आत्या f (ātyā), (father's sister-in-law) काकी f (kākī)
• Mazanderani: پرخا‎ (perxā)
• Meriam: apu
• Middle English: aunte
• Miyako: (younger than one’s parent) ブバ (buba), (older or younger than one's parent) ブバマ (bubama)
• Mòcheno: moa'm f
• Ngarrindjeri: barno
• Norman: tànte f (Guernsey), tante f (Jersey)
• Northern Ohlone: 'ansik
• Northern Sami: (mother's elder sister) goaski, (mother's younger sister) muoŧŧá, (father's sister) siessá, (parent's or their sibling's cousin's wife) ipmi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tante (no) m or f, faster (no) m or f (paternal), moster m or f (maternal), morsøster m or f (maternal, archaic)

• Occitan: tanta (oc) f
• Old English: módrige f (mother's sister), faþu f (father's sister)
• Old French: ante f, aunte f
• Pennsylvania German: Aent f, Aendi f
• Persian: (paternal) عمه‎ (fa) ('amme), (maternal) خاله‎ (fa) (xâle), دایزه‎ (fa) (dāyze), کاکی‎ (fa) (kāki)
• Plautdietsch: Mumm f, Taunte f
• Polish: ciotka (pl) f, ciocia (pl) f, wujenka (pl) f (wife of mother's brother), stryjenka (pl) f (wife of father's brother)
• Portuguese: tia (pt) f
• Romanian: mătușă (ro) f
• Russian: тётя (ru) f (tjótja), тётка (ru) f (tjótka) (colloquial), тётушка (ru) f (tjótuška)
• Rusyn: тю́̈тка f (tjú̈tka)
• Sanskrit: (father's sister) पितृव्या f (pitṛvyā)
• Saterland Frisian: Möie f
• Scottish Gaelic: piuthar-athar f (paternal), piuthar-màthar f (maternal), antaidh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тетка f, (maternal in-law) ујна f, (paternal in-law) стрина f

  Roman: tetka (sh) f, (maternal in-law) ujna (sh) f, (Bosnia) daidžinca f, (paternal in-law) strina (sh) f, (Bosnia) amidžinca f

• Seri: aac
• Sicilian: zia (scn) f
• Skolt Sami: sieˊss (paternal)
• Slovak: teta (sk) f
• Slovene: teta (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: śota f

• Spanish: tía (es) f
• Sudovian: mosa f
• Sundanese: ébé
• Swahili: shangazi (sw)
• Swedish: faster (sv) c (paternal), moster (sv) c (maternal), tant (sv) c (in-law)
• Tagalog: tita (tl), tiya, tiyahin
• Telugu: (paternal) అత్త (te) (atta), (maternal) పిన్ని (te) (pinni), పెదమ్మ (te) (pedamma), (maternal, in-law) అత్త (te) (atta)
• Thai: ป้า (th) (bpâa) (both elder sister), อา (th) (aa) (father's younger sister), น้า (th) (náa) (mother's younger sister)
• Tibetan: སྲུ་མོ (sru mo) (maternal), ཨ་ནེ (a ne) (paternal)
• Turkish: hala (tr), bibi (tr), eme (tr) (paternal), teyze (tr) (maternal), yenge (tr) (in-law)
• Turkmen: daýza
• Ukrainian: ті́тка (uk) f (títka), тьо́тя f (tʹótja), цьоця f (cʹocja), ву́йна f (vújna), ву́йчина (vújčyna), тета f (teta), цьо́тка f (cʹótka), вуянка f (vujanka), стри́йна f (strýjna)
• Venetian: amia (vec) f, àmeđa f, àmeda f, àmia f
• Vietnamese: cô (vi) (paternal), dì (vi) (maternal)
• Volapük: jiter (vo), zian (vo)
• Walloon: matante (wa) f
• Welsh: modryb (cy) f, modrybedd (cy) f pl
• West Frisian: muoike (fy) c
• Yiddish: מומע‎ f (mume)
• Yámana: tanowa-kipa
• Zazaki: ām, xale

great-aunt or grandaunt — see great-aunt,‎ grandaunt

grandmother — see auntie,‎ grandmother

affectionate term for an older woman, by means of fictive kin

• Armenian: հորաքույր (hy) (horakʿuyr), մորաքույր (hy) (morakʿuyr)
• Burmese: ဒေါ် (my) (dau), မ (my) (ma.) (for younger women)
• Catalan: tia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿姨 (zh) (āyí)

• Czech: teta (cs) f
• Dutch: tante (nl) f
• Estonian: tädi (et)
• Finnish: täti (fi)
• Georgian: დეიდა (ka) (deida)
• German: Tante (de) f
• Hungarian: néni (hu)
• Italian: zia (it) f
• Japanese: おばさん (obasan)
• Korean: 아주머니 (ko) (ajumeoni), 아줌마 (ko) (ajumma)

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: خاتۆ‎ (xato), خان‎ (ku) (xan)

• Latvian: tante
• Malay: makcik
• Marathi: काकू f (kākū), माउशी f (māuśī)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tante (no) m or f, filletante m or f

• Portuguese: tia (pt) f
• Russian: (colloquial) тётя (ru) f (tjótja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: тета f

  Roman: teta (sh) f

• Slovene: teta (sl) f
• Swedish: tant (sv) c
• Thai: ป้า (th) (bpâa)
• Turkish: teyze (tr)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: (1,2,3,4) ^{(please verify)} moereb (br) f, (children’s language) ^{(please verify)} tintin f
• Guaraní: ^{(please verify)} sy'y, (2) ^{(please verify)} sy kypy'y
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} bibi (id), ^{(please verify)} tante (id), ^{(please verify)} tanta
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} amita
• Lithuanian: (1) ^{(please verify)} teta f
• Polish: ciocia (pl) f

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} mătușă (ro) f
• Tamil: (periamma), ^{(please verify)} அத்தை (ta) (attai) (paternal), (in-law) Periy'yamma (elder), ^{(please verify)} Chi (Chi) 'thi (younger), ^{(please verify)} Periy (Periy) 'yamma (elder), ^{(please verify)} Chi (Chi) 'thi (younger), ^{(please verify)} Maa (Maa) 'mi (in-law)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} పిన్ని (te) (pinni), ^{(please verify)} పెదమ్మ (te) (pedamma), ^{(please verify)} అత్త (te) (atta)
• Tibetan: ^{(please verify)} ཡ་ནི (ya ni), ^{(please verify)} སུ་མོ (su mo)
• Tupinambá: (1) ^{(please verify)} aîxé, (2) ^{(please verify)} sy'yra
• Upper Sorbian: ^{(please verify)} ćeta (hsb)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} cô (vi), ^{(please verify)} thím (vi)

See also

• materteral

Further reading

• aunt on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• -naut, Tuna, naut., tuan, tuna