A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal
affinity
Affinity may refer to:
Commerce, finance and law
* Affinity (law), kinship by marriage
* Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique
* Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union
* Affinity Equity Partn ...
with another by being the
parent of the other's
spouse
A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. In certain contexts, it can also apply to a civil union or common-law marriage. Although a spouse is a form of significant other, the latter term also includes non-marital partners who play a social ...
. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law to the parents of the spouse, who are in turn also the parents of those
sibling-in-laws (if any) who are siblings of the spouse (as opposed to spouses of siblings). Together, the members of this family affinity group are called the in-laws.
Fathers-in-law
A father-in-law is the
father of a person's spouse. Two men who are fathers-in-law to each other's children may be called co-fathers-in-law, or, if there are grandchildren, co-grandfathers.
Mothers-in-law
A mother-in-law is the
mother of a person's spouse.
Two women who are mothers-in-law to each other's children may be called co-mothers-in-law, or, if there are grandchildren, co-grandmothers.
In comedy and in popular culture, the mother-in-law is stereotyped as bossy, unfriendly, hostile, nosy, overbearing and generally unpleasant. They are often depicted as the bane of the husband, who is married to the mother-in-law's daughter. A
mother-in-law joke is a joke that lampoons the obnoxious mother-in-law character.
Some
Australian Aboriginal languages
The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...
use
avoidance speech, so-called "mother-in-law languages", special sub-languages used when in hearing distance of
taboo relatives, most commonly the mother-in-law.
A ''
mother-in-law suite'' is also a type of dwelling, usually guest accommodations within a family home that may be used for members of the extended family.
See also
*
Affinity (law)
*
Marriage
*
Mother-in-law apartment
*
Mother-in-law house
*
Mother-in-law joke
References
External links
*
Audio recording of the Brothers Grimm folktale "The Mother-in-law"
Affinity (law)
Fatherhood
Motherhood
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