tante

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish טאַנטע (tante), from German Tante, from French tante.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑn.tə/

Noun

tante (plural tantes)

1. (usually in forms of address) A Jewish aunt.

Related terms

• aunt

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch tante, from French tante.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

tante (plural tantes, diminutive tannie or tantetjie)

1. aunt

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed via German Tante from French tante, from Old French ante, from Latin amita (“paternal aunt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtandə/, , ,

Noun

tante c (singular definite tanten, plural indefinite tanter)

1. aunt

Declension

Synonyms

• (paternal aunt): faster c
• (maternal aunt): moster c

Descendants

• → Icelandic: tanta

Further reading

• “tante” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French tante, from Middle French tante, from Old French ante, from Latin amita, from Proto-Indo-European *amma-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑn.tə/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tan‧te
• Rhymes: -ɑntə

Noun

tante f (plural tantes, diminutive tantetje n)

1. aunt (sister or sister-in-law of a parent)

   Synonym: moei

2. (familiar) A woman, especially an older or assertive one.

   De zuster was een kranige tante.

   The nurse was a hardy dame.

Derived terms

• oudtante
• peettante
• suikertante

Descendants

• Afrikaans: tante
• Berbice Creole Dutch: tanti
• Skepi Creole Dutch: tanta
• → Aukan: tanto
• → Malay: tante
  • Indonesian: tante
• → Papiamentu: tanchi, tanta
• → Sranan Tongo: tanta
  • → Caribbean Javanese: tante

Anagrams

• atten, natte

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French tante, alteration of ante, from Old French ante, from Latin amita. The initial t- is probably due to childish reduplication.

A derivation from t’ante, that is ta ante (“your aunt”), is grammatically possible because the use of ton with vowel-initial feminines is secondary and was only optional in Middle French. However, if a rebracketing of this sort had occurred, one would not expect it to happen with the second-person pronoun, but much rather the first person (thus *mante).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃t/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: tantes, tente, tentent, tentes

Noun

tante f (plural tantes)

1. aunt

   Ma mère et ma tante sont jumelles.

   My mother and my aunt are twins.

2. (derogatory) homosexual (man); faggot, fag (US); poof (UK)

Synonyms

• tata
• (Quebec) matante

Derived terms

• si ma tante en avait, on l’appellerait mon oncle
• tantouze

Descendants

See also

• oncle, tonton
• cousin, cousine

Further reading

• “tante”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• entât, étant, natte, tenta

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French tenter (“attempt, tempt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tãte/

Verb

tante

1. to attempt
2. to tempt

Ido

Adverb

tante

1. so

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay tante, from Dutch tante, from Middle French tante, from Old French ante, from Latin amita, from Proto-Indo-European *amma-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtantə/
• Rhymes: -tə, -ə
• Hyphenation: tan‧tê

Noun

tantê (plural tante-tante, first-person possessive tanteku, second-person possessive tantemu, third-person possessive tantenya)

1. (colloquial) aunt (a parent’s sister or sister-in-law)

   Synonym: bibi

2. (colloquial) auntie (an elderly woman)
3. (colloquial) madam

Derived terms

Further reading

• “tante” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtan.te/
• Rhymes: -ante
• Hyphenation: tàn‧te

Adjective

tante f pl

1. feminine plural of tanto

Anagrams

• natte, nattè, netta, tenta

Latin

Adjective

tante

1. vocative masculine singular of tantus

References

• tante in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Latvian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Tante (“aunt”), itself a borrowing from French tante (“aunt”). This borrowing was first mentioned in 18th-century Latvian texts.

Pronunciation

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun

tante f (5th declension, masculine form: tēvocis), onkulis

1. aunt (father's sister or mother's sister; father's brother's wife or mother's brother's wife)

   dzīvot pie tantes ― to live at (one's) aunt's

   tante Betsija ― aunt Betsy

2. aunt (a grown woman, in relation to a child, even if not the child's real aunt)

   Peterēna vienaudži mani jau uzrunā par tanti ― Peterēns (= Little Peter)'s friends called me aunt

   atbrauca inspektors un viena tante no arodbiedrības, veca meita ― the inspector came with an aunt from the trade union, an old girl

Declension

Synonyms

• mātesmāsa
• tēvamāsa

References

Malay

Etymology

From Dutch tante.

Noun

tante (Jawi spelling تنتى, plural tante-tante, informal 1st possessive tanteku, 2nd possessive tantemu, 3rd possessive tantenya)

1. (Netherlands) aunt (a parent’s sister or sister-in-law)

Synonyms

• emak saudara / امق ساودارا
• mak cik / مق چيق

Descendants

• Indonesian: tante

Norman

Alternative forms

• tànte (Guernsey)

Etymology

From Old French ante, from Latin amita.

Noun

tante f (plural tantes)

1. (Jersey) aunt

North Frisian

Etymology

From French tante.

Noun

tante

1. aunt

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German Tante (“aunt”), from French tante (“aunt”), from Middle French tante, from Old French ante, antain (“aunt”), from Latin amita (“paternal aunt; father's sister”) (combined with Vulgar Latin *amitāna), from Proto-Indo-European *amma-, *ama- (“mother”).

Noun

tante f or m (definite singular tanta or tanten, indefinite plural tanter, definite plural tantene)

1. aunt

Derived terms

• filletante
• grandtante

Related terms

• onkel
• nevø, niese

References

• “tante” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin amita, via Old French ante, French tante, and German Tante.

Noun

tante f (definite singular tanta, indefinite plural tanter, definite plural tantene)

1. aunt

Derived terms

• grandtante

Related terms

• onkel
• nevø, niese

References

• “tante” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.