aunt, aunte (au = a)

[In Ger. and Fr. tante; O. Fr. ante; Prov. amd a, from Lat. amita aunt by the father's side, that by the mother's side being quite a different word, viz., matertera.] IMG:content-0898.png:[blocks in formation] 1. In a good sense: A kindly epithet for an elderly woman of no kinship to the speaker, as uncle was for an elderly man. Modryle & Ewytlr = aunt and uncle, are used similarly in Welsh. ( Barnes : Early England and the Saxon English , p. 135.) 2. In a bad sense : A cant term for a woman of bad character, whether prostitute or procure . (Nares.) ( Shakesp .: Winter's Tale, iv. 3.) * âun-těr, * âun'-tre ( O. Eng . ) (tre as těr), * ân'-těr, *âun'-tyr (tyr as tīr) ( Provinc .), 8. [Contr. from Fr. aventure = an adventure.] 1. An adventure. 2. Fortune. ( Prompt . Parv.) "Fro Nabugodonosor the kyng that him hade, Called this pale is ' Auntres , and for so the seide." Joseph of Arimathie (ed. Skeat), 319-20.