Aunt

An aunt is a female individual who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Aunt, auntie, and aunty also may be titles bestowed by parents and children to close friends of one or both parents who assume a sustained caring or nurturing role for the children. Children in some cultures and families may refer to the cousins of their parents as aunt or uncle due to the age and generation gap. The word comes from Latin: amita via Old French ante and is a family relationship within an extended or immediate family. The male counterpart of an aunt is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece. The gender-neutral neologism pibling, a shortened form of parent's sibling, is used for both aunts and uncles.