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uncle - 6 dictionary results
un⋅cle
[uhng-kuh
l] 
–noun
—Idiom| 1. | a brother of one's father or mother. |
| 2. | an aunt's husband. |
| 3. | a familiar title or term of address for any elderly man. |
| 4. | Slang. a pawnbroker. |
| 5. | (initial capital letter) Informal. Uncle Sam. |
| 6. | a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter U. |
| 7. | say or cry uncle, Informal. to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle. |
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 )
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 )
Related forms:
un⋅cle⋅less, adjective
un⋅cle⋅ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To uncle
| un·cle (ŭng'kəl) n.
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin avunculus, maternal uncle; see awo- in Indo-European roots.] un'cle·less adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Uncle
Un"cle\, n. An eldery man; -- used chiefly as a kindly or familiar appellation, esp. (Southern U. S.) for a worthy old negro; as, "Uncle Remus." [Colloq.] Plain old uncle as he [Socrates] was, with his great ears, -- an immense talker. --Emerson.Uncle
Un"cle\, n. [OE. uncle, OF. oncle, uncle, F. oncle, fr. L. avunculus a maternal uncle, dim. of avus a grandfather; akin to Lith. avynas uncle, Goth. aw? grandmother, Icel. [=a]i great grandfather.]1. The brother of one's father or mother; also applied to an aunt's husband; -- the correlative of aunt in sex, and of nephew and niece in relationship. 2. A pawnbroker. [Slang] --Thackeray. My uncle, a pawnbroker. [Slang] Uncle Sam, a humorous appellation given to the United States Government. See Uncle Sam, in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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uncle
c.1290, from O.Fr. oncle, from L. avunculus "mother's brother," lit. "little grandfather," dim. of avus "grandfather," from PIE root *awo- "grandfather, adult male relative other than one's father" (cf. Arm. hav "grandfather," Lith. avynas "maternal uncle," O.C.S. uji "uncle," Welsh ewythr "uncle"). Replaced O.E. eam (usually maternal; paternal uncle was fædera), which represents the Gmc. form of the root (cf. Du. oom, O.H.G. oheim "maternal uncle," Ger. Ohm "uncle"). Also from Fr. are Ger., Dan., Swed. onkel. First record of Dutch uncle (and his blunt, stern, benevolent advice) is from 1838; Welsh uncle (1747) was the first cousin of one's parent. To say uncle as a sign of submission in a fight is N.Amer., attested from 1918, of uncertain signification.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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uncle
see cry uncle; Dutch uncle.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
