The use of the “in-law” did not always just indicate the relationship that it does today.

In most modern uses of “in-law” a “father-in-law” is the father of someone’s spouse. In the same way a “mother-in-law” is currently generally interpreted as the mother of one’s spouse.

In earlier uses, particularly the early 19th century and before, a “father-in-law” could be indicating that the “father-in-law” was actually a subsequent husband of the person’s mother.  Today that person is generally referred to as a step-father.

Similarly a “mother-in-law” reference could mean that the “mother-in-law” was a subsequent wife of the individual’s father. Today that person is generally referred to as a step-mother.

The “in-law” portion of the term stems from the marriage contract signed between the two individuals marrying.

Categories:

Tags:

One response

  1. WOW, that’s quite interesting because I just realized that” in-law” could simple mean the current person who was legally married to that spouse, by law. But that isn’t quite the case.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Get the More Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Recent Comments
Archives