daughter-in-law
Americannoun
-
daughters-in-law
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of daughter-in-law
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English doughter in lawe; see origin at 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.
See Examples For:
I can’t tell you to disinherit your son and daughter-in-law, and I can’t tell you not to do so.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
“They’re a team,” said Carla Prieto, Fuentes’ daughter-in-law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Yet it remained a fact that Ko was "never recognised as a daughter-in-law by Kim Il Sung", wrote Ryu - and nor was he ever publicly seen with her children.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Bruce Lebowitz’s daughter-in-law asked him at the March 2009 low if stocks would “go to zero.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Now the children were moved from the room where they had slept and the room was given to the new daughter-in-law, and all was arranged as it should be.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Gisèle Pelicot sat behind her legal team alongside her two sons and daughters-in-law.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2024
Moore is survived by his sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2024
Mollie also made dozens of quilt blocks that her daughters and daughters-in-law would eventually assemble.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
“I think emotionally it would be hard on everybody, but it would be an amazing experience,” one of his daughters-in-law said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2022
Then all the women gave a wail of joy—daughters, daughters-in-law, and the Lady Eurydike, Klymenos’ eldest daughter.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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.
