son-in-law
Americannoun
-
sons-in-law
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of son-in-law
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English sone in lawe; see origin at son, 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:
Witkoff, a business ally of US President Donald Trump, traveled to Russia and Ukraine over the weekend alongside negotiating partner Jared Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Friedkin leaves the day-to-day running of the club to his son-in-law Rishi Majithia, who works in tandem with chief executive Angus Kinnear.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
And with that, the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, was thrust into a media spotlight he has largely shunned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
He has dispatched special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to meet with Putin several times, later sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner to join him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The new son-in-law he even felt sorry for—he could see this husband would give out on his strong-willed second daughter.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Every year, we give each of our daughters and sons-in-law $100 for their birthdays.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The couple are survived by their daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren, the trust said.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
The same masters, however, often changed the rules of their guild so that only the sons and sons-in-law of current masters could become masters themselves.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Donahue is survived by his wife Andrea and three daughters, Nicole, Michele and Jennifer, in addition to three sons-in-law and 10 grandchildren.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2021
PapS assigns the different facts to his sons-in-law.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" 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.
