Aunt Definition & Meaning

American

British

Pronunciation

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms aunt American [ant, ahnt] / ænt, ɑnt /

noun

1. the sister of one's father or mother.

2. the wife of one's uncle.

3. 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.)

4. Slang. an aging gay man.

aunt British / ɑːnt /

noun

1. a sister of one's father or mother

2. the wife of one's uncle

3. a term of address used by children for any woman, esp for a friend of the parents

4. an exclamation of surprise or amazement

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Pronunciation

The usual vowel of aunt in the United States is the of rant except in New England and eastern Virginia, where it is commonly the “New England broad a, ” a vowel similar to French and having a quality between the of hat and the of car. The vowel itself is also used. In New England and eastern Virginia or the -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 pronunciation of aunt was brought to America before British English developed the in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the pronunciation developed there in these words.

Other Word Forms

• auntlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of aunt

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aunte, from Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French ante, from Latin amita “father's sister,” old feminine past participle of amāre “to love,” i.e., “beloved”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Born and raised in San Antonio, the singer’s father and aunt are both Tejano musicians who inspired Leo to take up the family mantle and put her own spin on the genre.

From Los Angeles Times

It sounds slightly Midwestern aunt, but trust me.

From Salon

Now I sleep on the floor of my aunt’s storage bedroom while waiting for some kind of resolution.

From MarketWatch

Wolf, a construction worker who lived with his mother and aunt in a run-down apartment complex off Foothill Boulevard, vented in Instagram comments about the city’s handling of the homelessness crisis.

From Los Angeles Times

“There are no secrets in this house,” her aunt reassures her.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cousin
• father
• folk
• mother
• niece
• sibling
• uncle

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.