Table of Contents
Definition of Uncle
(noun) A brother or brother-in-law of an individual’s parent; a husband of an individual’s aunt.
Example of Uncle
Uncle Pronunciation
Syllabification: un·cle
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /UHng-kuhl/
- British English – /UHng-kuhl/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈəŋkəl/
- British English – /ˈʌŋkl/
Usage Notes
- Plural: uncles
- A greatuncle (great-uncle) or granduncle (grand-uncle) is the uncle of an individual’s parent.
- An uncle-in-law is an uncle by marriage (affinity) instead of blood (consanguinity).
- A maternal uncle is mother’s brother and a paternal uncle is a father’s brother.
- An uncle’s sibling’s child is either a nephew if male or a niece if female.
- The female equivalent of an uncle is an aunt.
- The term (adjective) avuncular means relating to an uncle and an uncle exhibits (noun) unclehood.
Related Quotation
- “Families of orientation, procreation, and cohabitation provide us with some of the most important roles we will assume in life. The nuclear family roles (such as parent, child, husband, wife, and sibling) combine with extended family roles (such as grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, and in-law) to form the kinship system” (Strong, Devault, and Cohen 2011:19).
Related Video
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “uncle” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Reference
Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen. 2011. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. 11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Cite the Definition of Uncle
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “uncle.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/uncle/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
uncle. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/uncle/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “uncle.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/uncle/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“uncle.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/uncle/>.