aunt
[ ant, ahnt ]
/ ænt, ɑnt /
noun
the sister of one's father or mother.
the wife of one's uncle.
Chiefly New England and South Midland U.S..
(used as a term of respectful address to an older woman who is not related to the speaker).
Slang.
an aging male homosexual.
Origin of aunt
1250–1300; Middle English
aunte < Anglo-French, for Old French
ante < Latin
amita father's sister, old feminine past participle of
amāre to love, i.e., beloved
pronunciation note for aunt
The usual vowel of
aunt in the United States is the
[a] /æ/ of
rant except in New England and eastern Virginia, where it is commonly the “New England broad
a, ” a vowel similar to French
[a] /a/ and having a quality between the
[a] /æ/ of
hat and the
[ah] /ɑ/ of
car. The vowel
[ah] /ɑ/ itself is also used. In New England and eastern Virginia
[ah] /ɑ/ or the
[a] /a/ -like sound occur in
aunt in the speech of all social groups, even where a “broad
a ” is not used in words like
dance and
laugh. Elsewhere, the “broader”
a is chiefly an educated pronunciation, fostered by the schools with only partial success (“Your relative isn't an insect, is she?”), and is sometimes regarded as an affectation.
Aunt with the vowel of
paint is chiefly South Midland United States and is limited to folk speech.
The [a] /æ/ pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the [ah] /ɑ/ in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, [ah] /ɑ/ is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the [ah] /ɑ/ pronunciation developed there in these words.
The [a] /æ/ pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the [ah] /ɑ/ in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, [ah] /ɑ/ is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the [ah] /ɑ/ pronunciation developed there in these words.
OTHER WORDS FROM aunt
aunt·like, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH aunt
ant auntWords nearby aunt
aumf,
aumildar,
aune,
aung san suu kyi,
aunis,
aunt,
aunt jemima,
aunt sally,
auntie,
auntie man,
auntie-ji
Example sentences from the Web for aunt
British Dictionary definitions for aunt
aunt
/ (ɑːnt) /
noun (often capital, esp as a term of address)
a sister of one's father or mother
the wife of one's uncle
a term of address used by children for any woman, esp for a friend of the parents
my aunt! or my sainted aunt!
an exclamation of surprise or amazement
Word Origin for aunt
C13: from Old French
ante, from Latin
amita a father's sister