uncle
Pluraluncles
Pluraluncles
- 1The brother or brother-in-law of one's parent, or, more loosely, a male cousin of one's parent.
Her uncle drove three hours to attend the wedding.
He inherited the family farm from his uncle.
UsageCapitalized as a title before a name: Uncle Joe.
Note
English lets one word cover a parent's brother on either side, and a parent's sister's husband as well. The courtesy titles and figurative uses all lean on this relationship.
- 2A title or form of address for a man who is not a relative, such as a parent's close friend or partner, or an older man treated as family.
My father's business partner was no relation at all, but he was Uncle Ray to us for as long as I can remember.
"Happy birthday, Uncle!" Priya shouted as Dad's oldest friend walked through the door.
UsageUsually before a first name, Uncle Ray, or alone as a greeting.
Note
A courtesy title stretched beyond the family circle, especially in the Southern US and in parts of the UK and South Asia. It treats a family friend as kin, and often being of an older generation is enough to earn it. It is a mark of respect and affection, not a claim of relationship, though for a parent's boyfriend it can also be a polite cover that avoids naming the relationship.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The courtesy use occurs especially in the Southern US and parts of the UK and South Asia. en.wiktionary.org
- A parent's close friend can receive a kinship title without an actual family relationship. en.wikipedia.org
- Older unrelated men, including strangers, can receive the title as a mark of respect. en.wikipedia.org
- The nonfamilial title can express affection and respect. diversitystyleguide.com
- The title can euphemistically designate a parent's male partner. en.wiktionary.org
- 3A shout used to admit defeat and give up a fight or contest.
Held in a tight headlock, the boy finally gasped, "Uncle!"
She refused to say uncle even as the others begged her to stop.
UsageUsually in say uncle or cry uncle.
Similarmercy
Note
American roughhousing has its own word of surrender: a pinned child says it to be let go. Outside the US it may simply puzzle a listener.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- In the US, saying 'uncle' signals surrender during informal physical contests. en.wikipedia.org
- 4Any middle-aged or older man who is older than the speaker or listener, used informally.
Hey, uncle, can you tell me which platform the train leaves from?
An uncle at the next table waved the waiter over to settle our argument.
UsageOften used alone, in lowercase, as a polite address: hey, uncle.
Note
The everyday informal address for an older man in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Myanmar, offered to any man older than the speaker, including one the speaker has never met. Unlike the affectionate courtesy title, it implies no tie to the family, only seniority.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The informal older-man sense is used in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Myanmar. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 5A figurative source of advice, encouragement, or help that one can rely on.
The veteran reporter was an uncle to every nervous trainee in the newsroom.
During her first lonely year abroad, the retired teacher downstairs became an uncle to her, someone she could always turn to.
Similarmentor, patron, benefactor, protector
- 6To address someone using the title "uncle."
"Please don't uncle me," he told his sister's friends, "I'm barely older than you."
"Stop uncling me," he told the teenagers with a laugh. "I'm barely ten years older than you."
- 7To behave like or serve as an uncle.
With no children of his own, he threw himself into uncling, taking his sister's boys camping every summer.
Every Thanksgiving he gets to uncle, sneaking the kids extra pie and teaching them card tricks.
Note
A playful verb that works best beside its parent verb. Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) has a man who "both fathered and uncled Ford." That pairing even gives the verb an object, though it is normally intransitive.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Douglas Adams wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first published in 1979. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel contains the quoted wording, describing Ford's father; Ford is the grammatical object of both verbs. en.wiktionary.org
- The sense 'act as an uncle' is classified as intransitive. en.wiktionary.org
- 8An older Black man, in a now-archaic and offensive slang usage once common in the American South.
UsageSay older Black man, or address him by name and title, such as Mr. Johnson.
Note
A form of address with a painful history. In the American South it was a paternalistic way to speak to elderly Black men, and it now reads as demeaning. Expect it in older writing, and never use it to address anyone today.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Historically, the title was used paternalistically for older Black men in the American South. nps.gov
- This Southern US slang sense is archaic and therefore may occur in older writing. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A pawnbroker, in dated British informal use: the lender to whom goods were pledged for ready cash.
Similarpawnbroker, pawnshop
Note
Dated British slang that turned the pawnbroker into an obliging relative: goods went to "uncle" and came back when the money did. Thackeray uses it in Fraser's Magazine in 1843, in a review that doubts whether a dandy's watch chain has a watch on the end of it. Today it belongs to period fiction. In contemporary prose it needs context, or readers will take it literally.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Uncle is dated British informal language for a pawnbroker. en.wiktionary.org
- Pledged goods could be recovered by repaying the loan and interest. en.wikipedia.org
- Thackeray used the term in a review published in Fraser's Magazine in 1843. upload.wikimedia.org
- The review questions whether a fashionable man's displayed chain actually has a watch attached. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
English borrowed 'uncle' from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, going back through Vulgar Latin to Latin avunculus ('maternal uncle', literally 'little grandfather'). This traces to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'grandfather' or an adult male relative other than one's father, and it displaced the native Old English words ēam ('maternal uncle') and fædera ('paternal uncle').
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English borrowed uncle from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle. en.wiktionary.org
- The French forms derive through Vulgar Latin from Latin avunculus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin avunculus means maternal uncle and literally little grandfather. en.wiktionary.org
- The word ultimately derives from a Proto-Indo-European root denoting a grandfather or another adult male relative besides one's father. en.wiktionary.org
- Uncle displaced native words descended from Old English ēam and fædera, meaning maternal and paternal uncle respectively. en.wiktionary.org