father-in-law
Americannoun
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.
Wendy Ramirez, 45, and her father-in-law, Jaime Ramirez, 69, fled the area when they could no longer bear the heavy smoke last week.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
He also took his father-in-law to the hospital in emergencies.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026
He has visited with the president on numerous occasions and his father-in-law, Ronald Lauder, is a longtime friend of Trump.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
Bowen, 29, is a crowd favourite and his father-in-law is actor and celebrity West Ham fan Danny Dyer.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
This was the first compliment the father-in-law had ever paid any son-in-law in the family.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
