# If Uncles Are Avuncular, Aunts Are...What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635 "2005-01-02T03:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/1 "2005-01-02T03:09:52Z")
I’ve been straining all the resources at my disposal to try and find an English antonym for “avuncular”. I know, it’s a cultural thing in a society mostly based on a patriarchal family unit in which female relationships are deemed less important than male ones, and the Trobriand Islanders probably have about eleven different adjectives to describe what aunts are, but all I want is one: if uncles are avuncular, what are aunts? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/2 "2005-01-02T03:28:59Z")
Materteral. ---
**Author:** ![meowpossum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@meowpossum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meowpossum)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/3 "2005-01-02T03:31:28Z")
It looks as if you’re [out of luck](http://www.bartleby.com/68/54/654.html). You could try coining one yourself and see if it sticks (amitar? tantish?) but your best bet is probably going to be “auntlike,” “auntly,” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/4 "2005-01-02T03:32:32Z")
Avalanticular. WooooooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooo. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/5 "2005-01-02T03:44:29Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Materteral. Or, alternately, amital. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/6 "2005-01-02T03:45:17Z")
Looks like **yabob’s** “materteral” is the only one we’ve got (even though, strictly, it’s in reference to a maternal aunt. The _paternal_ ones apparently weren’t writing home about.) ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/7 "2005-01-02T03:45:37Z")
My nieces and nephews describe me as “auntastic.” ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/8 "2005-01-02T03:46:06Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > Looks like **yabob’s** “materteral” is the only one we’ve got (even though, strictly, it’s in reference to a maternal aunt. The _paternal_ ones apparently weren’t writing home about.) :mad: ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/9 "2005-01-02T03:49:52Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > Looks like **yabob’s** “materteral” is the only one we’ve got (even though, strictly, it’s in reference to a maternal aunt. The _paternal_ ones apparently weren’t writing home about.) Corresponding to “avuncular” being derived from maternal uncles. The Latin words for the paternal varieties were “patruus” and “amita”. The Maven’s Word of the Day on the subject: > **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=19971119)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. > [@](#): > > seems to exist for the sole purpose of allowing the question “What’s the word for ‘like an aunt’?” to be answered. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/10 "2005-01-02T05:13:56Z")
Cool, thanks for that, **yabob**. But I wonder why it was the maternal rather than paternal forms that were used? Would have thought the father’s side of things held more sway. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/11 "2005-01-02T05:24:26Z")
From what I remember from Latin class, ‘aunt’ _is_ the word for paternal aunt – paternal aunt in Latin is _amita_, and supposedly ‘aunt’ comes from letters shifting about. A synonym for _materteral_ is _materterine_. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/12 "2005-01-02T05:25:39Z")
Sorry, **yabob** – hadn’t seen all of the posts when I answered! ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/13 "2005-01-02T06:10:17Z")
That type of word is called a **Collateral Adjective**. Here’s a site with a very good list. [http://www.angelfire.com/mo/dotila/trivia.html](http://www.angelfire.com/mo/dotila/trivia.html) I even sent that webmaster some that he did not have (snow - nival; rain - plluvial, etc) but it seems he has not posted those yet. Every now and then in GQ, another collateral adjective question arises. I think I’ll notify a moderator about the above site. Also I think there are plenty of sites that have those collective noun lists (crash of rhinocerosis, murder of crows, etc) and perhaps 1 of those should be in the reference section. Which reminds me, didn’t we at one time have a resource section at SDMB for links to other websites? What happened to that? Maybe it’s so long since I used it, I forgot where it was. Oh well, it’s just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/14 "2005-01-02T07:00:40Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > That type of word is called a **Collateral Adjective**. > Here’s a site with a very good list. > > [http://www.angelfire.com/mo/dotila/trivia.html](http://www.angelfire.com/mo/dotila/trivia.html) > > I even sent that webmaster some that he did not have (snow - nival; rain - plluvial, etc) but it seems he has not posted those yet. Heh, asinine means “donkey-like.” I never realised that before. ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/15 "2005-01-02T07:23:02Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > Cool, thanks for that, **yabob**. But I wonder why it was the maternal rather than paternal forms that were used? Would have thought the father’s side of things held more sway. According to [this site](http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/5/Glosecki1.html), “… English kinship terms are less distinctive for paternal kinsmen because, deep in the Germanic past, presumably in the formative stages of the society, a Crow kinship [matrilineal] system prevails.” While your father’s relatives might be important in your life, you belonged to your mother’s “clan.” It was her lineage that determined where you fit in the society - whom you could marry, what work you could do, what your social status was. There’s a trace of this Anglo-Saxonism in Tolkien’s Rohan, where Théoden calls Éomer “sister-son.” ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/16 "2005-01-02T07:43:37Z")
Thanks, **SparrowHawk**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-uncles-are-avuncular-aunts-are-what/282635/17 "2005-01-03T09:35:27Z")
Thanks for the responses. “Materteral” doesn’t quite do it for me; it feels too “coined”: come to think of it, “avuncular” is too latinate. If “motherly” and “fatherly” can be adjectives, I figure aunts might as well be “auntly”. I know “uncly” reads like the opposite of “cly”, but if we switch back to the original spelling and pronunciation, “nuncly” should do just fine.