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An aunt is a
woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Known alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Children in other cultures and families may refer to the cousins of their parents as aunt or uncle due to the age and generation gap. The word comes from la, amita via
Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
''ante'' and is a
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
relationship within an extended or immediate family. The male counterpart of an aunt is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece.


Additional terms

* A half-aunt is a half-sister of a parent. * An aunt-in-law is the aunt of one's spouse and is the wife of the uncle of somebody. . * A great-aunt/grandaunt (sometimes written grand-aunt) is the sister of one's grandparent. Despite the popular usage of great-aunt, genealogists consider it more correct to use grandaunt for a grandparent's sister to avoid confusion with earlier generations. Similarly, the female siblings of one's great-grandparents are referred to as great-grandaunts.


Genetics and consanguinity

Aunts by birth (sister of a parent) are
related ''Related'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from October 5, 2005, to March 20, 2006. It revolves around the lives of four close-knit sisters of Italian descent, raised in Brooklyn and living in Manhattan. The ...
to their nieces and nephews by 25%. As half-aunts are related through half-sisters, they are related by 12.5% to their nieces and nephews. Non-consanguineous aunts (female spouse of a relative) are not genetically related to their nieces and nephews.


Cultural variations

In some cultures, such as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
peoples of Australia, respected senior members of the community, often also referred to as Elders, are addressed as " uncle" (for men) and "aunt" for women, as a mark of seniority and respect, whether related or not, such as
Aunty Kathy Mills Kathleen Mary Mills (née McGinness; 6 April 1936 – 24 April 2022), also known as Mooradoop and Aunty Kathy, was an Australian community leader, singer, Aboriginal elder and activist. She had a large family, all musical, with several of her d ...
. In several cultures, no single inclusive term describing both a person's
kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
to their parental female sibling or parental female in-law exists. Instead, there are specific terms describing a person's kinship to their mother's female sibling, and a person's kinship to their father's female sibling, per the following table:


Aunts in popular culture

Aunts in popular culture have not always been portrayed as positive roles. Childless aunts are often subjected to othering in popular culture and presented as exotic or as having a second-best role, with
motherhood ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...
preferred. Fictional aunts include: * Aunt May, May Parker, the aunt of
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
. *
Auntie Mame ''Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade'' is a 1955 novel by American author Patrick Dennis chronicling the madcap adventures of a boy, Patrick, growing up as the ward of his Aunt Mame Dennis, the sister of his dead father. The book is often desc ...
, title character in the novel and film. * Petunia Dursley, the aunt of the protagonist of ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' by '' J. K. Rowling''. * Vivian Banks, the aunt of the main character in ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...
''. * Aunt Sally, a character in the ''
Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
'' books and TV series. * Aunt Em, the aunt of Dorothy Gale in the Oz books and
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
. * Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge, the villainous aunts of James Trotter in '' James and the Giant Peach''. * Diane - The tomboyish aunt of Daniel in ''
Chicago Party Aunt , based_on = {{based on, The character, Chris Witaske , creator = Chris Witaske & Jon Barinholtz & Katie Rich , voices = {{Plainlist, * Lauren Ash * Rory O'Malley * RuPaul Charles * Jill Talley ...
''. Aunt Flo is a popular euphemism referring to the
menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs a ...
. An agony aunt is a colloquial term for a female
advice columnist An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...
.


See also

* – includes many articles with titles "Aunt
ame #REDIRECT AME #REDIRECT AME {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
{{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...
" *
Auntie (disambiguation) Auntie or aunty is an informal form of the word aunt. They may also refer to: __NOTOC__ Broadcasting * Aunty, an informal name for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * Auntie, an informal name for the British Broadcasting Corporation ** "Aunt ...
(also includes "Aunty") *
Cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control Family Terms for women