Aunt - Wikipedia

For other uses, see auntie (disambiguation). Female relative who is sibling of one's parent

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An aunt is a female individual who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty.

Aunt, auntie, and aunty also may be titles bestowed by parents and children to close friends of one or both parents who assume a sustained caring or nurturing role for the children.[1] Children in some cultures and families may refer to the cousins of their parents as aunt or uncle due to the age and generation gap. The word comes from Latin: amita via Old French ante and is a family relationship within an extended or immediate family.

The male counterpart of an aunt is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece. The gender-neutral neologism pibling, a shortened form of parent's sibling, is used for both aunts and uncles.[2]

Types

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• A half-aunt is a half-sister of a parent.
• A maternal aunt is the sister of one's mother.
• A paternal aunt is the sister of one's father.
• An aunt-in-law is the wife or female partner of one's uncle.[3]
• A parent's first cousin may be called a second aunt.
• A great-aunt[4][5] or grandaunt[6] (sometimes written grand-aunt[7]) is the sister of one's grandparent.

Genetics and consanguinity

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Aunts by birth (sister of a parent) are related to their nieces and nephews by 25%. As half-aunts are related through half-sisters, they are related by 12.5% to their nieces and nephews. Non-consanguineous aunts (female spouse of a relative) are not genetically related to their nieces and nephews.

Cultural variations

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In some cultures, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, respected senior members of the community, often also referred to as Elders, are addressed as "uncle" (for men) and "aunt" for women, as a mark of seniority and respect, whether related or not,[8][9] such as Aunty Kathy Mills.[10]

In several cultures, no single inclusive term describing both a person's kinship to their parental female sibling or parental female in-law exists. Instead, there are specific terms describing a person's kinship to their mother's female sibling, and a person's kinship to their father's female sibling, per the following table:[citation needed]

Terms for aunt

Language	Mother's sister	Father's sister
Albanian	teze	hallë
Kurdish	Xaltîk (IPA: xɑːltiːk)	Metik (IPA: mɛtɪk)
Arabic	خالة (khālah)	عمّة (ʿammah)
Assamese	Mahi	Pehi
Bengali	খালা (khala)	ফুফু (phuphu)
Finnish	Täti	Täti
Hindi	Mausi	Bua
Korean	이모 (Imo)	고모 (Gomo)
Marathi	Mavashi	Aatya
Persian	(خاله)khaleh	(عمّه)ammeh
Polish	ciotka (diminutive: ciocia)	stryjna (diminutive: stryjenka)
Swedish	moster	faster
Turkish	teyze	hala
Ukrainian	вуйна / vujna	стрийна / stryjna

In popular culture

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Aunts in popular culture have not always been portrayed as positive roles. Childless aunts are often subjected to othering in popular culture and presented as exotic or as having a second-best role, with motherhood preferred.[11]

Aunt Flo is a popular euphemism referring to the menstrual cycle.

An agony aunt is a colloquial term for a female advice columnist.

Fictional aunts include:

• Aunt Agatha and Aunt Dahlia, both aunts to Bertie Wooster in the Jeeves stories of P. G. Wodehouse: Aunt Agatha is haughty and fearsome, while Aunt Dahlia is more genial.
• May Parker, the aunt of Spider-Man.
• Eunice, the abusive aunt of Joker.
• Auntie Mame, title character in the novel and film.
• Petunia Dursley, the aunt of the protagonist of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.
• Vivian Banks, the aunt of the main character in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
• Aunt Sally, a character in the Worzel Gummidge books and TV series.
• Auntie Em, the aunt of Dorothy Gale in the Oz books and film.
• Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, the villainous aunts of James Trotter in James and the Giant Peach.
• Diane, the tomboyish aunt of Daniel in Chicago Party Aunt.
• Karasu and Washi, the twin aunts of Kubo from Kubo And The 2 Strings.

See also

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• All pages with titles beginning with Aunt – includes many articles with titles "Aunt [name]."
• Auntie (disambiguation) (also includes "Aunty")

References

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1. ^ Bashir, Imani (2019). "When an auntie is not actually a relative". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
2. ^ Straussman, Min (2021). "Piblings & Niblings: Do You Know These Words For Aunts, Uncles, Nieces, & Nephews?". dictionary.com. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
3. ^ "Aunt-in-law, N." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, December 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1008652953
4. ^ "Definition of great-aunt in English by Oxford Dictionaries". oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
5. ^ "Google Ngram Viewer of relative versions of name". Google Ngram. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
6. ^ "Grandaunt definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
7. ^ "Definition of grand-aunt in English by Oxford Dictionaries". oxforddictionaries.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
8. ^ "Communicating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Audiences". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia). 23 February 2016.
9. ^ Browning, Daniel (14 September 2022). "'I called him Uncle': Remembering iconic theatre great Uncle Jack Charles". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
10. ^ Mills, Aunty Kathy. "You belong to my heart". Spun: True Stories Told in the Territory. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
11. ^ Jones, Anna (9 December 2021). "'Aunt with no kids': The women redefining family roles". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.

External links

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• The dictionary definition of aunt at Wiktionary
• The dictionary definition of grandaunt at Wiktionary
• The dictionary definition of great-aunt at Wiktionary

v t e Family
History Rights Household Nuclear family Extended family Conjugal family Immediate family Matrifocal family
First-degree relatives	Parent mother father Child son daughter Sibling brother sister
Second-degree relatives	Grandparent Grandchild Uncle/Aunt Niece and nephew
Third-degree relatives	Great-grandparent Great-grandchild Great-uncle/Great-aunt Cousin
Family-in-law	Spouse wife husband Parent-in-law Sibling-in-law Child-in-law daughter-in-law son-in-law
Stepfamily	Stepparent stepfather stepmother Stepchild Stepsibling
Kinship terminology	Kinship Australian Aboriginal kinship Adoption Affinity Consanguinity Disownment Divorce Estrangement Family of choice Fictive kinship Marriage Nurture kinship Chinese kinship Hawaiian kinship Sudanese kinship Eskimo kinship Iroquois kinship Crow kinship Omaha kinship
Genealogyand lineage	Bilateral descent Cadet branch Common ancestor Family name Heirloom Heredity Inheritance Lineal descendant collateral descent Matrilineality Patrilineality Progenitor Clan Royal descent Family trees Pedigree chart Genogram Ahnentafel Genealogical numbering systems Seize quartiers Quarters of nobility
Relationships	Agape (parental love) Eros (marital love) Philia (brotherly love) Storge (familial love) Filial piety Polyfidelity
Holidays	Mother's Day U.S. Father's Day Father–Daughter Day Siblings Day National Grandparents Day Parents' Day Children's Day Japan Family Day Canada American Family Day International Day of Families National Family Week UK National Adoption Day
Related	Breadwinner model Single parent Wedding anniversary Godparent Birth order Only child Middle child syndrome Sociology of the family Museum of Motherhood Astronaut family Dysfunctional family Domestic violence Incest Sibling abuse Sibling estrangement Sibling rivalry

Authority control databases
National	United States Israel
Other	Yale LUX