father-in-law
Americannoun
-
fathers-in-law
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of father-in-law
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fader in lawe; see origin at father, 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:
Making sure your father-in-law has a safe and secure place to live is the No. 1 priority.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
My 81-year-old father-in-law sold the family home in July for $75,000.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026
He was inspired to do this after his own father-in-law, who had developed Alzheimer's, had to go into a nursing home.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“By my nature and profession I can’t resist a good story,” she writes, “and I saw death in the market square is a better prospect than my father-in-law is unwell.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
He shows her the things he’s bought, a tie for his father-in-law, soaps for their mothers, a shirt for Samrat, a silk scarf for Sonia, sketchbooks for himself, bottles of ink, a pen.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Fathers, fathers-in-law, and brothers of current Royals players and staff travel with the group.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
Each of the sons’ fathers-in-law also had accounts at the bank worth millions of dollars, as did other businessmen linked to the Mubaraks, whom Egyptian authorities tried on corruption charges.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
About 35 to 40 percent of Purush Spandana will be purchased by women, who hope that by casually leaving a copy around the house, their husbands, fathers-in-law or sons may give it a glance.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2012
And Paul finally realizes that his office/apartment/mole cave of blurry boundaries, provocative teenagers and angry fathers-in-law from exotic complicated countries, does not, right now, feel like the best place to raise a 12-year-old.
From Salon ● Nov. 24, 2010
It setteth at variance fathers-in-law and the kinsmen of the daughter-in-law; it sundereth the wife and the husband.
From The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep and the Instruction of Ke'Gemni The Oldest Books in the World by Ptahhotep
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
