avuncular, a.
(əˈvʌŋkjʊlə(r))
[f. L. avuncul-us maternal uncle, dim. of avus grandfather + -ar.]
a. Of, belonging to, or resembling, an uncle.
| 1831 Landor Rupert Wks. 1846 II. 571 Love..Paternal or avuncular. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes I. v. 50 Clive in the avuncular gig is driven over the downs. |
b. (humorously) Of a pawnbroker: see uncle. Also absol.
| 1832 Fraser's Mag. V. 85 My only good suit is at present under the avuncular protection. 1859 Sala Gaslight & D. iii. 37 If you enter one of these pawnshops..you will observe these peculiarities in the internal economy of the avuncular life. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 417 Avuncular's got my timepiece. |
Hence aˈvuncularism (joc.), recourse to a pawnbroker; avuncuˈlarity, the state of being an uncle; aˈvuncularly adv., in the manner of an uncle.
| 1859 D. G. Rossetti Let. 15 Feb. (1965) I. 348, I have only been saved from further ‘avuncularism’ by a visit of old Plint, who has bought two..drawings. 1937 A. L. Rowse R. Grenville ii. 28 The pleasures of avuncularity. 1957 Economist 7 Sept. 824/1 The classical picture here is of Lord Woolton avuncularly presiding over the rapidly growing Young Conservatives. |