# aunt

Pronunciation: say "AHNT" /ɑːnt/

## Noun

1. The sister or sister-in-law of one of your parents, or, more loosely, a parent's female cousin or the wife of a parent's cousin.
   - Simple: The sister of your mother or father, your uncle's wife, or sometimes a parent's female cousin or cousin's wife.
   - _She introduced me to her aunt at the family reunion._
   - _My aunts on my mother's side visit every summer._
2. A woman of an older generation, especially a parent's friend, treated and addressed as a relative despite having no actual family tie.
   - Simple: A grown-up friend of the family that children call aunt, even though she is not a real relative.
   - _Though no blood relation, Mrs. Chen has been an aunt to the children since birth._
   - _The kids greeted their honorary aunt with big hugs at the reunion._

## Noun

3. An elderly woman of any kind, regardless of family relationship. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old woman, related to you or not.
4. A woman who manages prostitutes or keeps a brothel. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A woman who gets women to sell sex, or who runs a house where sex is sold.

## Origin

This word came into Middle English as "aunte" from Anglo-Norman and Old French "ante," ultimately from Latin "amita" ("father's sister"). It replaced the native English word "modrie" for aunt.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aunt (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).