family aunt

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An aunt who is related to you by birth or marriage rather than by being the wife of an uncle you call by name.

   Grammar: Countable and usually used with my, her, an, or the: my family aunt, a family aunt.

   Patterns

   • my family aunt
   • a family aunt on my mother's side
   • one of my family aunts

   My family aunt Lena always brings the same cake to every wedding.

   He grew up near three family aunts who took turns looking after him.

   A family aunt on my mother's side taught me to sew.

2. 2nouncountable

   A woman in your extended family of your parents' generation whom you call "aunt" as a sign of respect or closeness.

   Grammar: Often used in cultures where unrelated older women are also addressed as aunt; here family marks the real relative.

   Patterns

   • call someone a family aunt
   • treat someone like a family aunt
   • an honorary family aunt

   In our neighborhood we call several older women aunt, but only two are family aunts.

   She is not a relative by blood, yet everyone treats her as a family aunt.

   The children call their mother's closest friend a family aunt.

Word forms

Common combinations

a family aunt on my mother's side

A family aunt on my mother's side lives in the same town.

one of my family aunts

One of my family aunts sends me a card every birthday.

a close family aunt

A close family aunt helped raise us after my father died.

an elderly family aunt

An elderly family aunt told us stories about the old village.

visit a family aunt

We visit a family aunt every Sunday afternoon.

Synonyms and how they differ

aunt

The plain everyday word; use it when the listener already knows which relative you mean, and add "family" only to make the blood or marriage link clear.

auntie

Warmer and more informal, and in some places used for any older woman, so it does not always mean a real relative.

relative

Much broader: it covers uncles, cousins and grandparents too, so it is less precise than family aunt.

Word family

aunt noun

The general word for a parent's sister or an uncle's wife.

auntie noun

An informal, affectionate form of aunt.

aunty noun

A common British spelling of auntie.

Commonly confused: family aunt or great-aunt? family aunt or aunt-in-law?

Practice

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