Mothers and Fathers are called parents, grandmothers and grandfathers are called grandparents, so what do you call aunts and uncles?
Asked
Active
Viewed 4.7k times
5
-
9We just call them aunts and uncles. Anglophones in general don't tend to have or use a large stock of words defining marital and/or blood relationships. – FumbleFingers May 09 '17 at 18:07
-
What @FumbleFingers said. Culture doesn't translate word-for-word. – Drew May 09 '17 at 23:56
-
The closest I can think of would be "my parents' siblings." – aparente001 May 10 '17 at 05:47
-
Slightly off-topic, but in line with @Drew's and Fumble's comments, Robert Heinlein's novel Citizen of the Galaxy features a society with far MORE precise words for familial relationships (and far more cultural significance of such) than anything existing in English. A good read. – Wildcard Aug 09 '17 at 22:44
-
2Zeroth cousin once-removed. Of course, this would also be what you called your nieces and nephews. – D Krueger Aug 10 '17 at 04:01
-
If it is of any help Chinese has very precise names for every possible extended relative. There would even be a word for "my mother's third older sister's husband", and one quite different to "my father's older brother". English would call them both "uncle" - but not in Chinese. – WS2 May 19 '18 at 03:41
1 Answers
1
I've heard "extended family" used for this. Merriam-Webster even has an entry for it:
- a family that includes in one household near relatives (such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles) in addition to a nuclear family
Though that might be more inclusive than you're looking for.
EightyEighty
- 1,061
- 1
- 6
- 10
-
3"Extended family" would also include cousins, grandchildren, an probably some more distant relatives. – Andreas Blass Aug 09 '17 at 22:56