sister-in-law
Americannoun
plural
sisters-in-law-
the sister of one's spouse.
-
the wife of one's brother or sister.
-
the wife of one's spouse's sister or brother.
noun
-
the sister of one's husband or wife
-
the wife of one's brother
Etymology
Origin of sister-in-law
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English syster in lawe; sister, 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.
"My sister-in-law is coming to visit and she's had real trouble trying to get a train," one woman tells me.
From BBC
Looking back, Michael Levy says his intensive campaigning helped him deal with the "emotional rollercoaster" after his sister-in-law, Einav, was killed at the Nova Festival and his younger brother, Or, was taken hostage alive.
From BBC
Vaughan, who is in Australia commentating on the Ashes, was locked inside a restaurant "a few hundred yards from Bondi" for several hours alongside his wife, sister-in-law, two daughters, and a friend.
From BBC
My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are newlyweds and organizing the trip, and at every family gathering they bring it up.
From MarketWatch
A few days later Ms Montgomery told her sister-in-law who told her mother.
From BBC
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.
