Nearby Words
noun
Idiom1.
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.
EXPAND(initial capital letter) Informal. Uncle Sam.
7.
say/cry uncle, Informal. to concede defeat: They ganged up on him in the schoolyard and made him say uncle.
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
Uncles
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
Origin:
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)
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)
Related forms
un·cle·less, adjective
un·cle·ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To uncles
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
uncle
late 13c., 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").
EXPANDReplaced 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 French 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
Uncle (Sam) definitionand Uncle Sugar
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.