Someone's uncle is the brother of their mother or father, or the husband of their aunt.
My uncle was the mayor of Memphis.
A text from Uncle Fred arrived.
Uncle, pa wants to see you.
uncle in British English
(ˈʌŋkəl)
noun
1.
a brother of one's father or mother
2.
the husband of one's aunt
3.
a term of address sometimes used by children for a male friend of their parents
4. slang
a pawnbroker
▶ Related adjective: avuncular
Word origin
C13: from Old French oncle, from Latin avunculus; related to Latin avus grandfather
uncle in American English
(ˈʌŋkəl)
noun
1.
a brother of one's father or mother
2.
the husband of one's parent's sibling
3.
a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man
4. slang
a pawnbroker
5. (cap) informal
Uncle Sam
6.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U
7. See say uncle
Derived forms
uncleless
adjective
uncleship
noun
Word origin
[1250–1300; ME ‹ AF uncle, OF oncle ‹ L avunculus mother's brother, equiv. to av(us) mother's father + -unculus suffix extracted from dims. of n-stems ( see homunculus)]
More idioms containing
uncle
Bob's your uncle
Examples of 'uncle' in a sentence
uncle
They came to Europe with their aunt and uncle.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Being an aunt and uncle is great and that's what we decided to do.
The Sun (2017)
It just kind of came down and picked off certain people here and there... cousins and aunts and uncles and my father very particularly.
The Sun (2016)
Their surviving fathers and uncles cannot easily be passed over.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
We got passed to brothers and uncles.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
His uncle was also one of the greats.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
You would miss my aunt and uncle.
George Eliot Daniel Deronda (1876)
Her mother had an uncle and they got in contact with him.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
My uncle and my godparents love me more than my own father.
Nightingale, Carl Husemoller On the Edge: A History of Poor Black Children and Their American Dreams (1993)
Another aunt and uncle and her brother often visited but she was deeply lonely and sometimes confused.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
An uncle who was also one of my uncles!
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Uncle and aunt have moved back up north to have another go after her affair.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The humour depends on your relationship with uncle and aunt.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The cousins and aunts and uncles left behind?
Charles Glass The Tribes Triumphant (2006)
My husband 's uncle is a minister and married his partner years ago.
Christianity Today (2000)
He now seemed an old bachelor, more like a distant uncle than a husband or father.
Adam Sisman The Friendship: Wordsworth and Coleridge (2006)
She chose the first, as her father and uncles had done.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
That was my mother, my uncles.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Her father, younger brother and uncle were all injured.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
When his father and uncle are taken away, he attempts to stay alive while waiting for the return of his family.
The Sun (2008)
I've got my aunt and uncle on my friends list.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
My wife's uncle was one of the last few British soldiers killed in the conflict.
The Sun (2012)
My uncle and a friend were walking around the garden talking and happened to turn up just as I jumped in.
The Sun (2014)
I went to stay with my friend 's uncle on a ranch in Virginia and it was like checking into rehab.
The Sun (2012)
But instead of strict arranged marriages, aunts, uncles and friends would meet over tea to flick through family photographs in the hope of matching perfect partners.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
uncle
British English: uncle /ˈʌŋkl/ NOUN
Your uncle is the brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt.
My uncle was the mayor.
American English: uncle
Arabic: عَمٌّ أو خَال
Brazilian Portuguese: tio
Chinese: 叔叔或舅舅
Croatian: ujak
Czech: strýc
Danish: onkel
Dutch: oom
European Spanish: tío familiar
Finnish: eno mother's brother
French: oncle
German: Onkel
Greek: θείος
Italian: zio
Japanese: おじ 伯父・叔父
Korean: 외삼촌 mother’s brother
Norwegian: onkel
Polish: wujek
European Portuguese: tio
Romanian: unchi
Russian: дядя
Latin American Spanish: tío hermano de su padre o madre
Swedish: farbror paternal
Thai: ลุง
Turkish: amca
Ukrainian: дядько
Vietnamese: bác parents’ older brother
All related terms of 'uncle'
say uncle
to concede defeat
uncle-ji
a respectful name and form of address given to a man from the generation older than oneself
Uncle Sam
Some people refer to the United States of America or its government as Uncle Sam .
Uncle Tom
In the past , some black people used Uncle Tom to refer to a black man when they disapproved of him because he was too respectful or friendly towards white people.
Dutch uncle
a person who criticizes or reproves frankly and severely
great-uncle
an uncle of one's father or mother ; brother of one's grandfather or grandmother
Bob's your uncle
said to mean that a process or series of events ends exactly as expected or in exactly the right way
agony aunt
An agony aunt is a person who writes a column in a newspaper or magazine in which they reply to readers who have written to them for advice on their personal problems .