aunt

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The sister of your mother or father, or your uncle's wife.

   My aunt is coming to stay with us this weekend.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Aunt is a Middle English word derived from Latin amitia, meaning “aunt.” Between the 13th and 17th centuries, mine aunt sometimes appeared as my naunt, although this form did not prevail. A comparable change became permanent in French: Old French ante became tante when ta, meaning “your,” ran together with ante.

From Middle English aunte, from Anglo-Norman aunte, from Old French ante, from Latin amita (“father's sister”). Displaced native Middle English modrie (“aunt”) (from Old English mōdriġe (“maternal aunt”); compare Old English faþu, faþe (“paternal aunt”)). The digraph ⟨au⟩ representing /æ ~ ɑː/ instead of the expected /ɔː/ is irregular, and has not been conclusively explained (compare launch, which contains /ɑː/ in some UK dialects).

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