# Word That Means 'Uncle-Or-Aunt'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891 "2021-11-24T19:07:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/41 "2021-11-28T16:57:36Z")
A friend of my wife had 23 aunts and uncles. Her mother has 11 siblings, her father 12. She called her mothers siblings momlings and her fathers siblings as poplings. These terms were used throughout the family. Also, with so many cousins, they referred themselves as couslings instead of cousins. With the family spreading out over the years, these terms are now not used much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/42 "2021-11-28T20:35:52Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Okay, I don’t think anyone posted this. In Italian families/communities, _comare (f)_ [co-mahr-ay] and _compare (m)_ [comb-pahr-ay] are the catch-all terms for anyone in one’s parents’ or grandparents’ generation who is not a parent or grandparent. I’m certainly not going to say that it wasn’t used that way in your circles - but in general, although the words have multiple meanings\* , they aren’t catch-all words for anyone of a previous generation and are often used for someone of the same generation. “Comare” and “compare” often mean “godmother” and 'godfather" ( both the religious and Mafia type) in Southern Italian. Sometimes this extends to the godparents of your children or the parents of your godchildren. “Compare” also means a close male friend although I’ve never heard “comare” used to refer to a close female friend. I’ve also heard them used to refer to the maid of honor/best man in a wedding, although that may have been an example of “close friend”. And “comare” can mean mistress, although that might be an Italian-American usage. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/43 "2021-11-29T02:04:01Z")
_cummari_ (Sicilian for _comare_) certainly can just mean “close [female] friend.” ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/44 "2021-11-29T03:49:34Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m certainly not going to say that it wasn’t used that way in your circles Yeah, to be fair, my dad’s hometown was an odd little enclave. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/45 "2021-11-29T04:16:07Z")
Okay. I misunderstood your original post. You were talking about the word “sibling”. I interpreted you as saying there was no word for “brother” or “sister” as in “male child of same mother” or “female child of same mother”. The gender-neutral “sibling” is new. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891/46 "2021-11-29T13:54:42Z")
Ah, that makes more sense. I was wondering why you thought it so incredibly obvious there must have been a word for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-that-means-uncle-or-aunt/954891.md?page=2)