ˈmother-in-law
Also 6 moder of law, motherelawe, 7 mother law.
[See -in-law.]
1. The mother of one's husband or wife.
| α c 1440 Promp. Parv. 341/1 Moodur in lawe, socrus. 1477 Paston Lett. III. 175, I trow ther is not a kynder woman leveing then I shall have to my modyr in lawe. 1540 R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) A a v, It is said, that mothers in lawes beare a stepmothers hate unto their daughters in lawes. 1688 S. Penton Guard. Instr. (1897) 26 The everlasting Din of Mothers-in-law. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 130 note, His only crime was a refusal to gratify the desires of his mother-in-law. 1880 Fison & Howitt Kamilaroi 203 Among the Kamilaroi, if a man be compelled to speak with his mother-in-law, the pair will turn their backs upon one another. |
| β 1538 Extracts Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 154 Jonat Barbour, hir moder of law. |
| γ 1526 Tindale Luke xii. 53 The motherelawe agaynst the doughterelawe. 1637 in Bury Wills (Camden) 169 My mother lawes children. |
2. = stepmother. Now regarded as incorrect.
| 1516 St. Bridget in Myrr. our Ladye p. xlviii, Hir moder in lawe. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. x. 26 If she becomes a mother in law, there is no difference betwixt her carriage to her own and her second husbands children. 1732 Fielding Miser iv. xiv, I know the word mother-in-law has a terrible sound; but perhaps I may make a better than you imagine. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, Miss Sharp will be your mother-in-law..that's what will happen. |
3. slang. (See
quot. 1886.)
| 1884 Daily Tel. 3 July 5/4 (Farmer). 1886 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Curios. Ale & Beer 392 Mother-in-law... The drink of this name is composed of equal proportions of ‘old and bitter’. |
4. mother-in-law's tongue, a tropical African herbaceous plant,
Sansevieria trifasciata or its variety laurentii, of the family Liliaceæ, distinguished by a rosette of long, pointed leaves with white or yellow markings, and often cultivated as a house plant.
| 1958 Times 29 Nov. 9/5 Probably the most long-suffering house plant is the ‘Mother-in-law's Tongue’. 1961 Amateur Gardening 11 Nov. 7/1 The sansevieria, because of its sword-like shape has received the unsympathetic name of Mother-in-Law's Tongue. 1970 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ii. 15 The place was modern and airy and full of..mother-in-law's tongue in long boxes. 1974 Times 5 Oct. 12/1 The real tough ones include aspidistras,..mother in law's tongue Sansevieria laurentii and the rubber plant Ficus elastica. |
Hence
mother-in-law v. nonce-wd., to rule as a mother-in-law.
| 1855 Dickens Dorrit ii. xiv, I will not..submit to be mother-in-lawed by Mrs. General. |