daughter-in-law
Americannoun
plural
daughters-in-lawnoun
Etymology
Origin of daughter-in-law
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English doughter in lawe; daughter, in, law 1; 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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Woods is dating Trump’s former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump.
From Salon • Apr. 2, 2026
But he says he has a Hittler daughter and a Hittler daughter-in-law who are also running to be councillors in the municipal elections, in other towns in France.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
He used the savings, he said, to help his daughter-in-law pay for her prescription for the drug.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025
“These kids did an adult job, basically facing a firing squad every day,” her daughter-in-law, Libby Boyce, said in an interview.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2025
He said mildly to his only daughter-in-law, “Good God, Margaret. That’s ‘who is she,’ not ‘who is her.’
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
