brother-in-law
Americannoun
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the brother of one's spouse.
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the husband of one's sister or brother.
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the husband of one's spouse's sister or brother.
noun
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the brother of one's wife or husband
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the husband of one's sister
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the husband of the sister of one's husband or wife
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brother-in-law
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English brother in law(e); see origin at brother, 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.
See Examples For:
The tapestry begins in 1064 or 65, when Harold, the most powerful earl in England and brother-in-law of king Edward the Confessor, is sent to Normandy, now in northern France.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Andre, who did not give his last name, told AFP from the US city of Miami that his brother-in-law was in the Vallarta building in Playa Grande.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Daniel Powers, Cancro’s brother-in-law, got around $30 million at that time, while Phillip Sivolobov, Cancro’s stepson, received total compensation of approximately $50 million.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
Word spread that Sillie’s missing brother-in-law had sent a cellphone text message: “We are trapped, help.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
The remains ofPhineas, his mother, his brother-in-law, and 35,000 other San Francisco pioneers were dug up by the city and moved to a mass grave in a suburban cemetery.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
During the Civil War her brother George was a surgeon at a Confederate hospital, while three half-brothers and four brothers-in-law all supported the Confederacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Richie, 26, says her husband and Joel Madden aren’t just brothers-in-law but “legitimate best friends”; Grainge himself says he and the Maddens play the video game “Fortnite” for an hour every Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2025
Urfan's Pakistan-based family have taken Jhelum police to court twice, accusing them of detaining several of Urfan's brothers and brothers-in-law illegally.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2023
While he was incarcerated, Theodora divorced him; she and their seven kids moved in with one of his brothers-in-law.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2023
I kiss my sisters, shake the hands of my brothers-in-law, and say a final goodbye to the kids.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
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.
