aunt

noun

ˈant  ˈänt 

1

: the sister of one's father or mother

2

: the wife of one's uncle or aunt

aunthood

ˈant-ˌhu̇d 

ˈänt-

noun

auntlike

ˈant-ˌlīk 

ˈänt-

adjective

auntly adjective

Examples of aunt in a Sentence

He has three aunts and two uncles.

This is my Aunt Mary.

Recent Examples on the Web

Watson noted that when his grandmother died, the care of his aunt fell to his mother and her other siblings. —Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 21 Nov. 2025

Raised by his single mother, grandmother and aunts, Franklin was the middle child of three boys. —Loureen Ayyoub, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2025

That same day, the child’s aunt, Jackelyn Garcia, 28, was arrested and charged with intentional cruelty to a child under the age of 19, risk of injury to a child and first-degree unlawful restraint. —Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 17 Nov. 2025

Erik, an admiral in the Navy, was too busy to administer his aunt’s body of work, so Olof Sundström, a close friend of hers, catalogued the archive. —Alice Gregory, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old French ante, from Latin amita; akin to Old High German amma mother, nurse, Greek amma nurse

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing aunt

• agony aunt
• aunt-in-law
• great-aunt

Rhymes for aunt

• ant
• cant
• chant
• gant
• lant
• pant
• plant
• quant
• rant
• sant
• scant
• slant

Kids Definition

aunt

noun

ˈant 

ˈȧnt

1

: the sister of one's father or mother

2

: the wife of one's uncle or aunt