aunt

A1 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ɑːnt/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #1113

Meanings

1

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

My aunt is coming to stay with us this weekend.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the sister of your mother... auntieaunty

More auntyjinaunt

Opposites

nephew niece uncle

Word family

Forms aunts

Derived forms aunt-in-lawauntcestauntdomaunthoodaunticideauntieauntingauntishauntlessauntlikeauntlyauntness

Related forms materteraltante

Common collocations

Etymology

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).

aunte Middle English ante Old French amita Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships

# aunt

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ɑːnt
**Frequency rank:** 1113

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

## Examples
- My aunt is coming to stay with us this weekend.

## Synonyms
- auntie
- aunty
- auntyji
- naunt

## Antonyms
- nephew
- niece
- uncle

## Derived Forms
- aunt-in-law
- auntcest
- auntdom
- aunthood
- aunticide
- auntie
- aunting
- auntish
- auntless
- auntlike
- auntly
- auntness

## Related Forms
- materteral
- tante

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: aunte
- Root: ante
- Root: amita

## Etymology
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).

## AI Etymology
Aunt comes from Middle English aunte, from Anglo-Norman aunte, from Old French ante, from Latin amita (“father's sister”). It 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.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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