Meaning

9 senses

  1. The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent.

    Onkel

    дя́дяdjádja, дя́дькаdjádʹka, дя́дюшкаdjádjuška

    дя́дькоdjádʹko

  2. The male cousin of one’s parent.

  3. (endearing)Used as a fictive kinship title for a close male friend of one's parent or parents.

  4. (euphemistic)Used as a title for the male companion to one's (usually unmarried) parent.

  5. (figuratively)A source of advice, encouragement, or help.

    дя́дяdjádja

    a source of help and advice and encouragement

  6. (UK, dated, informal)A pawnbroker.

    ростовщи́кrostovščík

  7. (especially)An affectionate term for a man of an older generation than oneself, especially a friend of one's parents, by means of fictive kin.

    дя́дяdjádja

    дя́дькоdjádʹko

  8. (Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, informal)Any middle-aged or elderly man older than the speaker and/or listener.

  9. (Southern US, archaic, slang)An older African-American male.

Examples

1053 sentences

  1. My uncle gave me a book.

    Мій дядько дав мені книжку. — deniko

    ruДядя дал мне книгу. — zmoo

    deMein Onkel gab mir ein Buch. — Espi

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. My uncle lives near the school.

    Мій дядько живе біля школи. — deniko

    ruМой дядя живёт рядом со школой. — ae5s

    deMein Onkel wohnt in der Nähe der Schule. — Wolf

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Our uncle bought us movie tickets.

    Наш дядько купив нам квитки в кіно. — deniko

    ruНаш дядя купил нам билеты в кино. — afyodor

    deUnser Onkel hat uns Kinokarten gekauft. — Wolf

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. My uncle gave me a camera.

    Мій дядько дав мені камеру. — aandrusiak

    ruМой дядя подарил мне фотоаппарат. — afyodor

    deMein Onkel hat mir eine Kamera gegeben. — jast

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. My uncle works in this office.

    Мій дядько працює в цьому офісі. — deniko

    ruМой дядя работает в этом офисе. — odexed

    deMein Onkel arbeitet in diesem Büro. — driini

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · A1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent:
Русский
By meaning 2
brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent:
UK informal: pawnbroker — see also pawnbroker:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent:

Origin

From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vul

From Middle English uncle, borrowed from Anglo-Norman uncle and Old French oncle, from Vulgar Latin *aunclum, from Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”, literally “little grandfather”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂euh₂-n-tlo- (“little grandfather”), a dialectal diminutive of *h₂éwh₂ō (“grandfather, adult male relative other than one’s father”) (whence also Latin avus (“grandfather”)). Displaced native Middle English em (“uncle”) from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, and Old English fædera (“paternal uncle”). Compare Saterland Frisian Unkel (“uncle”), Dutch nonkel (“uncle”), German Low German Unkel (“uncle”), German Onkel (“uncle”), Danish onkel (“uncle”). More at eam and eame.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: uncles
Singularuncle
Pluraluncles

regular

Synonyms

7 synonyms
as a respectful term of address:uncleji
eamemenuncleuncleyunclieuncly

Antonyms

5 antonyms
with regard to gender:auntA1
with regard to ancestry:nieceB1nephewB1
African-American:boyA1
India:aunty

Word family

39 related words
Relatedavuncularuncularavunculateavunculicideavunculocal
Derivedagony uncleaunclebruncleco-unclecousin-uncledouble uncledrunklefunclegrandunclegreat-grandunclegreat-unclegrunclegunclehalf-unclematernal half-unclematernal unclenunclepaternal half-unclepaternal unclesecond unclestepuncletaxi uncleuncunclecide

Lessons for this word

1 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • aunt and uncle
  • an an uncle
  • visit his uncle
  • with his uncle
  • visit my uncle
  • my uncle lives
  • with my uncle
  • my uncle in
  • my uncle is
  • my uncle gave
  • his uncle in
  • at his uncle's

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
uncharteduncheckuncivilizedunclaimeduncleanunclearB1unclench
uncle — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto