# sister-in-law

Pronunciation: US say "SIS-tur-in-law" /ˈsɪs.tɚ.ɪn.lɔ/; UK say "SIS-tuh-in-law" /ˈsɪs.tə.ɪn.lɔː/

## Noun

1. The sister of one's husband or wife.
   - Simple: The sister of the person you are married to.
   - _When I married, my husband's sister welcomed me warmly, and we have been close as sister-in-law and brother's wife ever since._
   - _She invited her sister-in-law, her wife's older sister, to spend the holidays with them._
2. The wife of one's brother or sister.
   - Simple: The woman your brother or sister is married to.
   - _My sister-in-law and my brother just bought their first house together._
   - _After my sister's wedding, her new wife quickly became the sister-in-law I see most often._

## Noun

3. A woman married to a brother or sister of one's husband or wife. *(rare)*
   - Simple: The woman married to a brother or sister of your husband or wife.
   - _Both of us married into the same family, so my sister-in-law and I share the same in-laws without being related by blood._
   - _When my wife's brother wed, his new wife became the sister-in-law who hosts our reunions._
4. The sister of one's sibling's spouse. *(rare)*
   - Simple: The sister of the person your brother or sister married.
   - _My brother's wife brought along her sister, who has been a friendly sister-in-law to me ever since._
   - _Once my sister married, I gained a sister-in-law in the form of her husband's sister._

## Origin

Inherited from Middle English suster-in-lawe, formed from "sister" combined with the suffix "-in-law".

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