co-sister-in-law

English

Alternative forms

• (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Abdhra Pradesh, Telangana) co-sister

Etymology

co- +‎ sister-in-law.

Noun

co-sister-in-law (plural co-sisters-in-law)

1. One's husband's brother's wife; or more generally one's spouse's sister-in-law, the sister of one spouse in relation to the siblings of the other spouse.
   1. (in the plural) The relationship between women who marry brothers
   • 1979, Paul Friedrich, editor, Language, Context, and the Imagination, page 193:

     [The Russian word] Yátrov', for the husband's brother's wife or co-sister-in-law, so diagnostic a status within the patrilocal household, has passed entirely out of the language.

   • 2006, Kalipatnam Rama Rao, C.L.L. Jayaprada (trans.), Yagnam and Other Stories, page 61:

     At first the wench's second co-sister-in-law and the middle sister-in-law got into it.

2. One's brother-in-law or sister-in-law's sister; that is, one's sibling's spouse's sister (one's sister's husband's sister or one's brother's wife's sister).
   1. (in the plural) The relationship between women whose brother and sister are married to each other

Usage notes

Generally used in translation, or in countries such as India (Andhra Pradesh) where the local language makes the distinction. In common speech in traditionally English-speaking countries, sister-in-law may be used.

The primary usage is for one's husband's brother's wife.

Synonyms

• (secondary sense): co-aunt (in relation to a common niece or nephew)

Coordinate terms

• co-sibling-in-law
• co-brother-in-law

Related terms

• co-in-law
• co-mother-in-law
• co-wife

Translations

one's husband's brother's wife

• Armenian: տագերակին (hy) (tagerakin)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 妯娌 (zh) (zhóuli)

• Japanese: 相嫁 (あいよめ, aiyome)
• Persian: جاری‏‎ (fa) (jâri)

• Portuguese: concunhada (pt) f
• Russian: неве́стка (ru) f (nevéstka), своя́ченица (ru) f (svojáčenica) (slightly dated)
• Spanish: concuñada (es) f
• Turkish: elti (tr)
• Zazaki: nıyac

one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law's sister

• Portuguese: concunhada (pt) f
• Spanish: concuñada (es) f

• Zazaki: nıyac

Languages which have words for this relationship which are distinct from the word for sister-in-law. Not all are attested to have the second meaning above, though this may sometimes be an oversight:

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Chinese 妯娌 zhóuli (collectively, refers to wives of brothers; addressing a single person, refers to a woman's husband's brother's wife)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} jetrva, ^{(please verify)} јетрва (husband's brother's wife), ^{(please verify)} šurjakinja (wife's brother's wife)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kunbofratino
• French: (generally use belle-sœur "sister-in-law") ^{(please verify)} co-belle-sœur
• German: ^{(please verify)} Schwippschwägerin, ^{(please verify)} Schwiegerschwägerin
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} svilkona (is)
• Inupiak: (spouse of elder sibling) ^{(please verify)} aŋayunġuq, (spouse of younger sibling) ^{(please verify)} nukaunġuq
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} concognata
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 동서 (ko) (同壻) dongseo (with siblings of the same sex: a man's wife's sister's husband, or a woman's husband's brother's wife, but not cheonambu a man's wife's brother's wife)

• Malay: (co-sibling-in-law) ^{(please verify)} biras
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} جارى‏‎ (jaari)
• Tagalog: (co-sibling-in-law) ^{(please verify)} bilas
• Turkish: (husband's brother's wife) ^{(please verify)} elti (tr)
• Vietnamese: (co-sisters-in-law) ^{(please verify)} chị em cột chèo