uncle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʌŋ.kəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle,^[2][3][4] from Late Latin aunculus, from Latin avunculus (“mother's brother”),^[3][5] literally “little grandfather”, a diminutive of avus “grandfather”,^[6][2] from Proto-Indo-European *awo- (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one's father”).^[6][2] Latin had patruus for a father's brother.^[6] It replaced Old English ēam, mostly “mother's brother”, the Germanic form of the same root, which survives in Dutch oom.^[6][2][4] It is related to avuncular.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The brother of one's father or mother: about 1290 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[8][6][2] It is found as a surname from the late 12th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As a title before a name it is from the mid-15th century.^[6] From the late 16th century, an uncle was sometimes taken as a nuncle, and Shakespeare's Fool calls Lear “nuncle”.^[7] The slang sense “pawnbroker” is by 1756.^[6] As a familiar form of address to an older man it is by 1793.^[6][8] Dutch uncle is from 1838,^[8] and Uncle Sam, for the United States government, from the early 19th century.^[7] In BBC radio, uncle was a male announcer of children's programmes from 1923,^[8] and a mother's male friend or lover from 1962.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – a parent's brother.^[8]
• mid-15th century – as a title.^[6]
• 1756 – a pawnbroker.^[6]
• 1793 – a form of address to an older man.^[6][8]
• 1838 – Dutch uncle.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The brother of one's mother or father.
2. The husband of one's aunt.
3. A form of address for an older man, especially by children.
4. (slang) A pawnbroker.

Word family

• uncleless
• uncleship
• granduncle
• great-granduncle
• great-uncle
• nuncle
• unc
• Dutch uncle

Related words

• avuncular
• avunculate
• aunt

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press