aunt

aunt
—auntlike, adj.
/ant, ahnt/, n.
1. the sister of one's father or mother.
2. the wife of one's uncle.
3. Chiefly New England and South Midland U.S. (used as a term of respectful address to an older woman who is not related to the speaker).
4. Slang. an aging male homosexual.
[1250-1300; ME aunte < AF, for OF ante < L amita father's sister, old fem. ptp. of amare to love, i.e., beloved]
Pronunciation. The usual vowel of AUNT in the United States is the /a/ of rant except in New England and eastern Virginia, where it is commonly the "New England broad a", a vowel similar to French /ann/ and having a quality between the /a/ of hat and the /ah/ of car. The vowel /ah/ itself is also used.
In New England and eastern Virginia /ah/ or the /ann/ -like sound occur in AUNT in the speech of all social groups, even where a "broad a" is not used in words like dance and laugh. Elsewhere, the "broader" a is chiefly an educated pronunciation, fostered by the schools with only partial success ("Your relative isn't an insect, is she?"), and is sometimes regarded as an affectation. AUNT with the vowel of paint is chiefly South Midland United States and is limited to folk speech.
The /a/ pronunciation of AUNT was brought to America before British English developed the /ah/ in such words as aunt, dance, and laugh. In American English, /ah/ is most common in the areas that maintained the closest cultural ties with England after the /ah/ pronunciation developed there in these words.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Aunt — Aunt, n. [OF. ante, F. tante, L. amita father s sister. Cf. {Amma}.] 1. The sister of one s father or mother; correlative to nephew or niece. Also applied to an uncle s wife. [1913 Webster] Note: Aunt is sometimes applied as a title or term of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • aunt — aunt; aunt·sary; ble·aunt; aunt·ie; …   English syllables

  • aunt — [a:nt US ænt] n [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: ante, from Latin amita] the sister of your father or mother, or the wife of your father s or mother s brother ▪ Aunt Mary →↑agony aunt …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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  • aunt — [ant, änt] n. [ME & OFr aunte < L amita, paternal aunt, dim. of * amma, mother (< baby talk)] 1. a sister of one s mother or father 2. the wife of one s uncle …   English World dictionary

  • aunt|ly — «ANT lee, AHNT », adjective. of or characteristic of an aunt: »“It is no good your trying to excuse your infamous conduct…!” This is the true, auntly note (Kenneth Tynan) …   Useful english dictionary

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