Meanings
plural maternal uncles
- The brother or brother-in-law of one’s mother. (This entry is a translation hub.)
1 more example
The social organization of the Trobriand Islanders of Melane- sia is characterized by matrilineal descent, free and familiar rela- tions between father and son, and a marked antagonism between maternal uncle and nephew.³¹ On the other hand, the patrilineal Cherkess of the Caucasus place the hostility between father and son, while the maternal uncle assists his nephew and gives him a horse when he marries.³²
1963, Claude Lévy-Strauss, Structural Anthropology, New York: Basic Books, page 42
Translations
Arabic خَال
- خَال (ḵāl)brother of one's mother
Bengali মামা, খালু
- মামা (mama)brother of one's mother
- খালু (khalu)brother of one's mother
Bulgarian вуйчо
- вуйчо (vujčo)brother of one's mother
Chinese Mandarin 舅父, 舅舅
- 舅父 (jiùfù)brother of one's mother
- 舅舅 (jiùjiu)brother of one's mother
- 姨父 (yífù)brother of one's mother
- 姨丈 (yízhàng)brother of one's mother
Czech ujec
- ujecbrother of one's mother
Danish morbror, onkel
- morbrorbrother of one's mother
- onkelbrother of one's mother
Dutch oom, nonkel
- oombrother of one's mother
- nonkelbrother of one's mother
Finnish eno, enopuoli
- enobrother of one's mother
- enopuolibrother of one's mother
French oncle maternel
- oncle maternelbrother of one's mother
German Oheim, Onkel
- Oheimbrother of one's mother
- Onkelbrother of one's mother
Greek θείος
- θείος (theíos)brother of one's mother
Hebrew דּוֹד
- דּוֹד (dód)brother of one's mother
Hindi मामा, मौसा
- मामा (māmā)brother of one's mother
- मौसा (mausā)brother of one's mother
Hungarian anyai nagybácsi (ágról való)
- anyai nagybácsi (ágról való)brother of one's mother
Icelandic móðurbróðir
- móðurbróðirbrother of one's mother
Italian zio, zio materno
- ziobrother of one's mother
- zio maternobrother of one's mother
Korean 외삼촌
- 외삼촌 (oesamchon)brother of one's mother
Latin avunculus
- avunculusbrother of one's mother
Persian دایی
- دایی (dâ'i)brother of one's mother
Polish wuj, wujek
- wujbrother of one's mother
- wujekbrother of one's mother
Portuguese tio, tio materno
- tiobrother of one's mother
- tio maternobrother of one's mother
Romanian unchi, unchi după mamă
- unchibrother of one's mother
- unchi după mamăbrother of one's mother
Russian дя́дя, дя́дя по ма́тери
- дя́дя (djádja)brother of one's mother
- дя́дя по ма́тери (djádja po máteri)brother of one's mother
- дя́дя по матери́нской ли́нии (djádja po materínskoj línii)brother of one's mother
Scottish Gaelic bràthair-màthar
- bràthair-màtharbrother of one's mother
Spanish tío, tío materno
- tíobrother of one's mother
- tío maternobrother of one's mother
Swahili mjomba
- mjombabrother of one's mother
Swedish morbror, onkel
- morbrorbrother of one's mother
- onkelbrother of one's mother
- mors svågerbrother of one's mother
- ingift morbrorbrother of one's mother
Tamil மாமா, தாய்மாமன்
- மாமா (māmā)brother of one's mother
- தாய்மாமன் (tāymāmaṉ)brother of one's mother
- அம்மான் (ammāṉ)brother of one's mother
- பெரியப்பா (periyappā)brother of one's mother
- சித்தப்பா (cittappā)brother of one's mother
Thai ลุง, น้า
- ลุงbrother of one's mother
- น้า (náa)brother of one's mother
Turkish dayı, enişte
- dayıbrother of one's mother
- eniştebrother of one's mother
Cite this entry
maternal uncle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maternal%20uncle
“maternal uncle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maternal%20uncle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maternal uncle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maternal%20uncle.
Source: maternal uncle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.