inlaw
[in-law, in-law]
- to restore (an outlaw) to the benefits and protection of the law.
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Origin of inlaw
in-law
[in-law]
- a relative by marriage.
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Origin of in-law
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
fathersiblingmothercousinfolkunclenieceauntclantribegrouppeoplehousehouseholdagnatecognateconnectionbloodfolksrelationExamples from the Web for inlaw
Historical Examples
I may not go against the word of the Moot, and inlaw you again by giving you a place.
A Thane of WessexCharles 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 CornwallCharles 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.
I cannot inlaw you again, Heregar; for that must needs be done in full Moot, as was the outlawry.
A Thane of WessexCharles W. Whistler
in-law
- a relative by marriage
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- (postpositive; in combination) related by marriagea father-in-law
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper