father-in-law

[fah-ther-in-law]

noun

plural

fathers-in-law 

1. the father of one's spouse.

father-in-law

noun

1. the father of one's wife or husband

Word History and Origins

Origin of father-in-law¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fader in lawe; 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

My father-in-law retired at age 62 from a company he worked for for 35 years.

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He consulted his father-in-law, a naturalist, who broke the news to him: “Ladybugs are like cockroaches, but with better presentation.”

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Monroe, 38, did much of the repair work herself while she, her husband and toddler stayed with her father-in-law.

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“My father-in-law was sick, Covid was under way, and we were in a bad place. I started ‘The Correspondent’ as an exercise, never planning to show it to anyone.”

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My father-in-law would now like to move back to the States and live full time, so we all would like to move somewhere warmer and are thinking it will be South Carolina or Texas.

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Related Words

• aunt 
• cousin 
• father 
• folk 
• mother 
• niece 
• sibling 
• uncle