Aunting
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The provision of maternal care by another, allomothering. uncountable
"The aunting behavior in a captive group of 22 squirrel monkeys containing three infants was done in terms of the age/sex classification of those animals involved. The time course of the aunting phenomena and the type and intensity of the interactions between the mothers and the aunts were recorded."
- 2 The interactions arising from an aunt or aunt-like relationship uncountable
"I found that aunting, or the care and nurture of children by aunts and great-aunts, is gendered and invisible work that, at the most basic level, salvages children’s lives."
Example
More examples"The aunting behavior in a captive group of 22 squirrel monkeys containing three infants was done in terms of the age/sex classification of those animals involved. The time course of the aunting phenomena and the type and intensity of the interactions between the mothers and the aunts were recorded."
Etymology
From aunt + -ing.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.