An aunt is a person who is the sister or sister-in-law of a parent.
A great-aunt or grand-aunt is the sister or sister-in-law of a grandparent.
The male equivalent of an aunt is an uncle, and the reciprocal relationship is that of a nephew or niece.
"Aunt" (or "auntie") may also be an honorific bestowed upon an individual of fictive kinship.
Famous quotes containing the word aunt:
“I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)