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in-law

in-law

496 2.1
A person related to you by marriage, for example your spouse's parent or sibling
  • noun
  • /ˈɪnˌlɔ/
translation icon : pariente por matrimonio
  • In 1973, the farmer retired and moved to town, and his son-in-law became the farm operator.
  • a brother-in-law
  • a mother-in-law
  • a daughter-in-law

You met the in laws and you left with a gift.

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Examples

  • Sister-in-laws have to stick together, right?

  • When my sister got married, I gained a wonderful set of in-laws who are now like family.

  • You met the in laws and you left with a gift.

  • I was on a family visit to see my in laws when that happened.

  • Had a great time, had dinner with the future in laws and party's over.

  • Your brother-in-law bought it for me.

  • His father-in-law owns a concern.

  • Why are you letting your in laws dictate how you raise your kids?

  • As it turns out, my father-in-law is a Burger King franchise.

  • One donor, a father-in-law, expressed his delight in the marked improvement in the recipient's quality of life.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

relative-in-law
vsin-law
3.5

A family member related to you by marriage, not by blood, like a mother-in-law

is mainly used for the parent or sibling of one's spouse

Surface Forms

in-law singular
in-laws plural

Morphology

in-law = in + law

The term 'in-law' is not transparently derived from 'in' and 'law' in a way that conveys its meaning as a relative by marriage. [Postprocessing: moved 'in' from roots to prefixes (ADP/ADV)]

Etymology

The word in-law comes from the parts in- ('in' or 'by') and law ('legal rule'). So an in-law is a family member 'by law', someone related through marriage rather than by blood.