uncle
/ˈʌŋ.kl̩/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.45 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
noun
A source of advice, encouragement, or help.
noun
An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.
Example Sentences
- "And it was while all were passionately intent upon the pleasing and snake-like progress of their uncle that a young girl in furs, ascending the stairs two at a time, peeped perfunctorily into the nursery as she passed the hallway—and halted amazed."
- "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)"
- "Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great ears, — an immense talker."
- "Betelgeuse Five, where he both fathered and uncled Ford"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os Latin avunculus Old French unclebor. Middle English uncle English uncle 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 (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: uncle, oncle, avunculus
Usage
- British usage
- Dated
- Informal
- Archaic
- Slang
- American usage
- Colloquial
- Transitive verb