Brethren-in-law
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 plural of brother-in-law archaic, form-of, plural
"And if, occasionally, their superior position made these officers in times of emergency address their tattooed brethren-in-law in vigorous and uncomplimentary language, emphasized by a knockdown blow, no ill will was either felt on one side nor engendered on the other."
Example
More examples"And if, occasionally, their superior position made these officers in times of emergency address their tattooed brethren-in-law in vigorous and uncomplimentary language, emphasized by a knockdown blow, no ill will was either felt on one side nor engendered on the other."
Etymology
From Middle English breþeren in lawe, equivalent to brethren + in + law.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.