mother-in-law

[ muhth-er-in-law ]

noun

, plural moth·ers-in-law.

1. the mother of one's spouse.

mother-in-law

noun

1. the mother of one's wife or husband

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother-in-law¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moder in lawe; mother ¹( def ), in ( def ), law ¹( def ); from Middle English in-lawe “in law,” i.e., “a person within the regulation and protection of the law,” based on the prohibition by Roman civil law and, later, Christian canon law, of marriages within four degrees of consanguinity, i.e., up to and including first cousins

Example Sentences

Don’t get me wrong: Plenty of people lost everything in this fire, certainly more than my mother-in-law did.

From Los Angeles Times

Inspiration was all around him – biographers and critics have identified everyone and everything from his mother-in-law to Castle Park in Michigan as reincarnated in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

From Salon

He described the relative heights of all the people in his life who he’s taller than, including Munn, his even shorter mother-in-law and a nanny who is “negative one-feet tall.”

From Los Angeles Times

"I wasn't going to watch it but my mother-in-law and my mother were like 'come on, we’ll put it on, it's nice for her to see her daddy on telly'."

From BBC

"We ought to drink a pint to my wonderful mother-in-law. She really loved her time here," the duchess said.

From BBC

Related Words

• aunt
• cousin
• father
• folk
• mother
• niece
• sibling
• uncle