Meanings
plural daughters-in-law · colloquial nonstandard plural daughter-in-laws
- The wife of one's child.
They discovered Weller had two daughters and a daughter-in-law in the same cemetery.
2021 September 24, Lauren M. Johnson and Christina Zdanowicz, “A gravestone missing for almost 150 years was being used as a marble slab to make fudge”, in CNN2 more examples
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 10:35And we can watch how that plays out as Trump attempts to get his daughter-in-law, Lara, into the U.S. Senate.
2024 November 17, Howie Klein, “A Plurality Of American Voters Have Embraced Kakistocracy As Their Preferred Form Of Governance”, in DownWithTyrannySynonyms: bahu
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe wife of one's child.
Origin
- Middle Englishdoghter in lawe
- Englishdaughter-in-law
From Middle English doghter in lawe; equivalent to daughter + -in-law.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νύμφη, νυός
- νύμφη (númphē)wife of one's child
- νυός (nuós)wife of one's child
Arabic كَنَّة, زَوْجَة اَلاِبْن
- كَنَّة (kanna)wife of one's child
- زَوْجَة اَلاِبْن (zawjat al-ibn)wife of one's child
Bulgarian снаха́
- снаха́ (snahá)wife of one's child
Catalan nora
- norawife of one's child
Chinese Cantonese 新婦 /新妇, 媳婦 /媳妇
- 新婦 /新妇 (san¹ pou⁵, sam¹ pou⁵)wife of one's child
- 媳婦 /媳妇 (sik¹ fu⁵)wife of one's child
Chinese Mandarin 媳婦 /媳妇, 兒媳 /儿媳
- 媳婦 /媳妇 (xífù)wife of one's child
- 兒媳 /儿媳 (érxí)wife of one's child
- 兒媳婦 /儿媳妇 (érxífù)wife of one's child
Czech snacha
- snachawife of one's child
Danish svigerdatter
- svigerdatterwife of one's child
Dutch schoondochter
- schoondochterwife of one's child
Esperanto bofilino
- bofilinowife of one's child
Estonian minia
- miniawife of one's child
Finnish miniä
- miniäwife of one's child
French bru, belle-fille
- bruwife of one's child
- belle-fillewife of one's child
German Schwiegertochter, Schnur f)
- Schwiegertochterwife of one's child
- Schnur f)wife of one's child
Greek νύφη, κόρη
- νύφη (nýfi)wife of one's child
- κόρη (kóri)wife of one's child
Hebrew כַּלָּה
- כַּלָּה (kala)wife of one's child
Hindi बहू
- बहू (bahū)wife of one's child
Hungarian meny
- menywife of one's child
Icelandic tengdadóttir
- tengdadóttirwife of one's child
Indonesian menantu perempuan, menantu
- menantu perempuanwife of one's child
- menantuwife of one's child
Irish iníon-i-ndlí, banchliamhain
- iníon-i-ndlíwife of one's child
- banchliamhainwife of one's child
Italian nuora
- nuorawife of one's child
Japanese 嫁
- 嫁 (yome)wife of one's child
Korean 며느리
- 며느리 (myeoneuri)wife of one's child
Latin nurus, nura
- nuruswife of one's child
- nurawife of one's child
Lithuanian marti
- martiwife of one's child
Malay menantu perempuan, menantu
- menantu perempuanwife of one's child
- menantuwife of one's child
Māori hunaonga, hunōnga
- hunaongawife of one's child
- hunōngawife of one's child
Norwegian Bokmål svigerdatter, sønnekone
- svigerdatterwife of one's child
- sønnekonewife of one's child
Persian سنه, سنهار
- سنه (sonoh)wife of one's child
- سنهار (sonhâr)wife of one's child
- عروس ('arus)wife of one's child
Polish synowa, snecha
- synowawife of one's child
- snechawife of one's child
Portuguese nora
- norawife of one's child
Punjabi ਨੂੰਹ, نُون٘ہہ
- ਨੂੰਹ (nū̃h)wife of one's child
- نُون٘ہہ (nūṉh)wife of one's child
Romanian noră
- norăwife of one's child
Russian неве́стка, сноха́
- неве́стка (nevéstka)wife of one's child
- сноха́ (snoxá)wife of one's child
Scottish Gaelic bean-mhic, nighean-chèile
- bean-mhicwife of one's child
- nighean-chèilewife of one's child
Slovak nevesta
- nevestawife of one's child
Spanish nuera
- nuerawife of one's child
Swedish svärdotter, sonhustru
- svärdotterwife of one's child
- sonhustruwife of one's child
Tagalog babaeng manugang
- babaeng manugangwife of one's child
Tamil மருமகள்
- மருமகள் (marumakaḷ)wife of one's child
Thai ลูกสะใภ้
- ลูกสะใภ้ (lûuk-sà-pái)wife of one's child
Turkish gelin
- gelinwife of one's child
Ukrainian неві́стка
- неві́стка (nevístka)wife of one's child
Urdu بَہُو
- بَہُو (bahū)wife of one's child
Vietnamese con dâu, dâu
- con dâuwife of one's child
- dâuwife of one's child
Welsh merch-yng-nghyfraith, gwaudd
- merch-yng-nghyfraithwife of one's child
- gwauddwife of one's child
- merched yng nghyfraithwife of one's child
Yiddish שנור
- שנור (shnur)wife of one's child
Cite this entry
daughter-in-law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daughter-in-law
“daughter-in-law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daughter-in-law. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “daughter-in-law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/daughter-in-law.
Source: daughter-in-law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.