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mother-in-law

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English moder in lawe; equivalent to mother +‎ -in-law.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mother-in-law (plural mothers-in-law or (colloquial, nonstandard) mother-in-laws)

  1. The mother of one's spouse.
    Hypernyms: in-law, parent-in-law
    Coordinate terms: father-in-law, mother-out-law
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Matthew 10:35:
      For I am come to ſet a man at variance* againſt his father, ⁊ the daughter againſt her mother, and the daughter in law againſt her mother in law.
    • 2008 January 10, “Scared of this? You must be lutraphobic”, in The Daily Mail[1]:
      Odontophobia, or the fear of dental work, seems equally plausible, as does pentheraphobia - fear of the mother-in-law.
  2. A mother-in-law apartment.
  3. A mother-in-law sandwich.
  4. (dated) A stepmother.
  5. (uncountable) A spicy Caribbean sauce made with peppers, carrots, onions, lime juice, etc.

Synonyms

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(mother of one's spouse):

Derived terms

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Translations

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