Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os ‎(“grandfather”). Cognates include Old Prussian awis ‎(“uncle”); Russian уй ‎(uj), Serbo-Croatian ујак, ujak < Proto-Slavic *ujь ‎(“maternal uncle”), etc. The suffix -ýnas is of unclear formation. It may be linked to the identical suffix in seserýnas ‎(“relative on the sister's side”), brolýnas ‎(“relative on the brother's side”). Compare also Bulgarian у́йна ‎(újna, “aunt, uncle's wife”), Russian dialectal дя́д-ина ‎(djád-ina, “uncle's wife”). Further -n- extensions to the root *h₂ewh₂- can be found in Latin avunculus ‎(“maternal uncle”), Breton eontr ‎(“uncle”), Welsh ewythr ‎(“uncle”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɐˈʋʲiː.nɐs]