On a small island such as mine (Malta), a common conversational topic when meeting someone new is about family. This is because with only 400,000 people, it’s very easy to find a connection.
A: I live in Xemxija.
B: Really? My aunt’s from there too.
A: Who is she?
B: Carol. She’s an aunt on my father’s side.
“She’s an aunt on my father’s side”. Hmm … I can use the word AGNATE and simply say “She’s an agnate aunt.” What if you want to speak about a relative on your mother’s side? Then ENATE is the word to use. For example, “Simona is an enate cousin”, meaning that Simona is a cousin on my mother’s side.
Use the language
- If you know of another word which can be used instead of agnate or enate, post a comment to share it.
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