uncle
The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
Noun 4 meanings
The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.
The male cousin of one’s parent.
Used as a fictive kinship title for a close male friend of one's parent or parents.
Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.
Interjection 1 meaning
A cry used to indicate surrender.
Verb 2 meanings
To address somebody by the term uncle.
To act like, or as, an uncle.
Etymology
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”)).
Similar and opposite words
UNCLE at a glance
UNCLE has 5 letters and scores 7 points in Scrabble (U 1 + N 1 + C 3 + L 1 + E 1) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #3,276 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with uncle
All rhymesOne letter away
- ANCLE7
- INCLE7
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