Standard Lemma guide

in-law

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɪn.lɔː/
  • US: /ˈɪn.lɔ/
  • cot-caught-merger: /ˈɪn.lɑ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: IH0 N L AO1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A relative by marriage (or through affinity).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural, often

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: affine

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Sometimes specifically a parent-in-law of one's child, for which the dedicated terms co-mother-in-law, co-father-in-law are rare.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a relative by marriage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: relative-in-law

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: relative, relation

Narrower terms: brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law

History

Etymology

Back-formation from -in-law.

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: խնամի (xnami) — relative by marriage
  • Azerbaijani: qayın — relative by marriage
  • Azerbaijani: quda — relative by marriage
  • Cebuano: umagad — relative by marriage
  • Chinese Mandarin: 姻親 /姻亲 (yīnqīn) — relative by marriage
  • Danish: svigerfamilie — relative by marriage
  • Dutch: aangetrouwd familielid — relative by marriage
  • Dutch: schoonfamilie — relative by marriage
  • Dutch: aanverwant — relative by marriage
  • Faroese: verfólk — relative by marriage
  • Finnish: puolison sukulainen — relative by marriage
  • French: membre de la belle-famille — relative by marriage
  • German: angeheirateter Verwandter — relative by marriage
  • German: Anverwandter — relative by marriage
  • German: Schwiegerfamilie — relative by marriage
  • German: Schwager — relative by marriage
  • Greek: πεθερικά (petheriká) — relative by marriage
  • Ingrian: lanko — relative by marriage
  • Italian: parente acquisito — relative by marriage
  • Kapampangan: manuyang — relative by marriage
  • Kumyk: къайын (qayın) — relative by marriage
  • Northern Kurdish: хнами (xnamî) — relative by marriage
  • Northern Kurdish: xizm — relative by marriage
  • Macedonian: сват (svat) — relative by marriage
  • Malay: ipar — relative by marriage
  • Māori: kaireperepe — relative by marriage
  • Norwegian Bokmål: svigerfamilie — relative by marriage
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: svigerfamilie — relative by marriage
  • Polish: powinowaty — relative by marriage
  • Polish: powinowata — relative by marriage
  • Portuguese: afim — relative by marriage
  • Russian: родня́ — relative by marriage
  • Spanish: familia afín — relative by marriage
  • Spanish: familia política — relative by marriage
  • Spanish: pariente afín — relative by marriage
  • Spanish: pariente político — relative by marriage
  • Swahili: shemeji — relative by marriage
  • Swahili: mkwe — relative by marriage
  • Swedish: släkting genom giftermål — relative by marriage
  • Swedish: ingift — relative by marriage
  • Tagalog: manugang — relative by marriage
  • Tok Pisin: tambu — relative by marriage
  • Turkish: kayın — relative by marriage
  • Azerbaijani: quda — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Chinese Mandarin: 親家 /亲家 (qìngjiā, qīngjiā) — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Finnish: lapsen appivanhempi — parent-in-law of one's child
  • German: no word — parent-in-law of one's child
  • German: etc. — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Greek: συμπέθερος (sympétheros) — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Hebrew: מחותן (mekhutan) — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Ingrian: lanko — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Italian: consuocero — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Malay: besan — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Polish: rodzic zięcia — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Polish: rodzic synowej — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Portuguese: consogro — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Russian: сват (svat) — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Russian: сва́тья (svátʹja) — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Spanish: consuegro — parent-in-law of one's child
  • Turkish: dünür — parent-in-law of one's child