# father-in-law

Pronunciation: US say "FAH-ther-in-law" /ˈfɑðɚɪnˌlɔ/; UK say "FAH-thuh-rin-law" /ˈfɑːðəɹɪnˌlɔː/

## Noun

1. The father of one's spouse.
   - Simple: The father of your husband or wife.
   - _At the reception, his father-in-law gave a warm and funny speech._
   - _Her father-in-law had worked as a fisherman his whole life._

## Noun

2. The husband of one's mother or father; a stepfather. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A stepfather: the man who married your mother or father.
   - _When her mother married again, the children gradually accepted their father-in-law into the household._
   - _He spoke fondly of the father-in-law who had taken him in as a child._

## Origin

From Middle English fader in lawe (also fadyr-in-lay and fader yn lawe), equivalent to father plus the suffix -in-law.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/father-in-law (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).