inlaw

[in-law, in-law]

verb (used with object) Law.

to restore (an outlaw) to the benefits and protection of the law.

Origin of inlaw

before 1000; Middle English inlawen, Old English inlagian. See in-¹, law¹

Related formsin·law·ry, noun

in-law

[in-law]

noun

a relative by marriage.

Origin of in-law

1890–95; back formation from mother-in-law, brother-in-law, etc.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for inlaw

father, sibling, mother, cousin, folk, uncle, niece, aunt, clan, tribe, group, people, house, household, agnate, cognate, connection, blood, folks, relation

Examples from the Web for inlaw

Historical Examples of inlaw

I may not go against the word of the Moot, and inlaw you again by giving you a place.
A Thane of Wessex
Charles W. Whistler
We are going to hold you as a hostage until your Saxon master or your British father pay ransom for you, and inlaw us again.
A Prince of Cornwall
Charles W. Whistler
If the clergy would give him a voluntary gift, which was in no way to be considered a tax, he agreed to inlaw them.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5
Various
I cannot inlaw you again, Heregar; for that must needs be done in full Moot, as was the outlawry.
A Thane of Wessex
Charles W. Whistler

British Dictionary definitions for inlaw

in-law

noun

a relative by marriage

adjective

(postpositive; in combination) related by marriagea father-in-law

Word Origin for in-law

C19: back formation from father-in-law, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for inlaw

in-law

1894, "anyone of a relationship not natural," abstracted from father-in-law, etc.

The position of the 'in-laws' (a happy phrase which is attributed ... to her Majesty, than whom no one can be better acquainted with the article) is often not very apt to promote happiness. ["Blackwood's Magazine," 1894]

The earliest recorded use of the phrase is in brother-in-law (13c.); the law is Canon Law, which defines degrees of relationship within which marriage is prohibited.