From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishuncleun‧cle /ˈʌŋkəl/ ●●● S2 W3 noun [countable] 1 SSFthe brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt → aunt I went to stay with my uncle and aunt for a few days. Uncle Philip I was very excited about becoming an uncle (=your sister or your brother’s wife has a child).2 SSused by children, in front of a first name, to address or refer to a man who is a close friend of their parents3 → say uncle
Examples from the Corpus
uncle• Uncle Roscoe• I remember two aunts and an uncle, all very dear to me, dying within a few months.• You shall visit your aunt and uncle.• Another uncle, Ignacio, offers to take Manuel Gustavo on as his own illegitimate son.• Suppose your favorite uncle proudly tells you that your birthday present is a subscription to the Salmon of the Month Club.• The years hold little joy for Jacob, who meets a crooked dealer after his own kind in his uncle Laban.• His maternal uncle, William Dauney, had been an architect in Aberdeen.• Come to that, she had only one uncle, her father's brother Eric, and she hardly ever saw him.• Which uncle had told him that was a fatal mistake?Origin uncle (1200-1300) Old French Latin avunculus “mother's brother” 