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Brothers and sisters are siblings. Husbands and wives are spouses. Mothers and fathers are parents. Sons and daughters are children. Grandparents, grandchildren... but what about uncles and aunts, or nieces and nephews?

In writing this, I scanned the "Similar Questions" sidebar and found that half of my question is already answered; there is no real term for nieces and nephews. Bummer. But I'm still wondering about aunts and uncles: does anyone know about that?

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Since there is no gender neutral or collective noun for Aunt/Uncle then at least as far as it concerns my Mom's side of the family I just call them what they are... meddlers. –  Michael Swartz May 19 '13 at 8:48

6 Answers 6

up vote 11 down vote accepted

The answer to the similar question you mention actually has your answer. No, there is no gender-neutral word your parents' siblings.

From the answer:

This thread also mentions:

  • that there is no encompassing word for aunt/uncle either
  • that there is no male/female form of cousin.
  • the article "There isn't word for it":
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Just as a side note, with respect to aunts and uncles, we have an adjective for the male (avuncular), but none for the female - although materteral and tantesque have been suggested by some. –  The Raven Jun 22 '11 at 15:36
@TheRaven I believe the word "avuncular" actually has its origins in a specific custom of a man helping raise his eldest sister's children, being even more involved with them than with his own. The logic of this was that before DNA testing, a man could never be sure that "his" children were really his blood relatives, but he could be sure that his sister's children were. –  Nicole Jul 29 at 13:06

My solutions would be "parents' siblings", and "siblings' children". They don't make single words, but do make concise terms.

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Well, the compound-word "extended-family" can work.

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Or relatives. But these are too vague. –  Daniel Jun 25 '11 at 16:51

I propose "pibling," by analogy to "nibling."

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I'm confused: the same article that suggests nibling proposes pibling. In fact, it proposes pibling first, and then extends it further to nibling. Do you mean to say that "nibling" is actually a word you use and other people understand it? If so, where do you live? –  Marthaª Apr 25 '12 at 18:16
I live in the New York City area. People at my office use "nibling" informally. From urbandictionary.com, I take it that others understand it, too. –  Keith Apr 25 '12 at 19:25
This is really a comment, not an answer to the question. You can always comment on your own posts, and once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post. –  kiamlaluno Aug 14 '12 at 23:14
This is an answer, not a comment, but it needs a lot more information to be a good one (some citations and an explanation of nibling, for instance). –  Kit Z. Fox May 19 '13 at 16:33

genderqueer titles list

I hadn't heard of any listed for aunt/uncle, but I did know the term 'nibling' for niece/nephew.

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Because your link might go dead, please include a synopsis of the pertinent bits (which all seem somewhat more fabulated to me than they do fabulous) in your own answer. Furthermore, other answers already provide nibling, so without further expansion, you answer provides nothing new. –  tchrist Jan 9 '14 at 13:20

The Non-binary Wiki suggests ommer as a gender neutral for aunt/uncle.


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protected by tchrist Jul 5 '14 at 23:31


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