uncle
[ uhng-kuh l ]
/ ˈʌŋ kəl /
noun
a brother of one's father or mother.
an aunt's husband.
a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man.
Slang.
a pawnbroker.
(initial capital letter) Informal.
Uncle Sam.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U.
Idioms for uncle
say/cry uncle, Informal.
to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.
Origin of uncle
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French
uncle, Old French
oncle < Latin
avunculus mother's brother, equivalent to
av(us) mother's father +
-unculus suffix extracted from diminutives of n-stems (see
homunculus)
OTHER WORDS FROM uncle
un·cle·less, adjective un·cle·ship, nounWords nearby uncle
Example sentences from the Web for uncle
British Dictionary definitions for uncle
uncle
/ (ˈʌŋkəl) /
noun
a brother of one's father or mother
the husband of one's aunt
a term of address sometimes used by children for a male friend of their parents
slang
a pawnbroker
Other words from uncle
Related adjective: avuncularWord Origin for uncle
C13: from Old French
oncle, from Latin
avunculus; related to Latin
avus grandfather
Idioms and Phrases with uncle
uncle
see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.