brother-in-law

[ bruhth-er-in-law ]
See synonyms for brother-in-law on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural broth·ers-in-law.
  1. the brother of one's spouse.

  2. the husband of one's sister or brother.

  1. the husband of one's spouse's sister or brother.

Origin of brother-in-law

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English brother in law(e); see origin at brother, in, law1; 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

Words Nearby brother-in-law

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How to use brother-in-law in a sentence

  • Their jurisdictions overlapped and the Gascon would play second fiddle to no one save to his great brother-in-law.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
  • She reached out for her pistol, but withdrew her hand as she heard the careless laugh of her brother-in-law.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • The ruling passion of the brother-in-law was a stern and acrimonious party spirit.

  • The brother-in-law of Vergniaud came to visit him, and brought with him his son, a child ten years of age.

  • Mr. Levine's face remained supernaturally polite while it guarded his opinion that it wasn't his brother-in-law's magazine at all.

    The Creators | May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for brother-in-law

brother-in-law

nounplural brothers-in-law
  1. the brother of one's wife or husband

  2. the husband of one's sister

  1. the husband of the sister of one's husband or wife

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012