mechuten

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Pronunciations

mechuten (muh-KHUU-tn) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A member of one's spouse's extended family.

  • n. One's son- or daughter-in-law's father.

  • n. The grandfather of one's grandchild's spouse. 

Example Sentences

  • "My daughter married his son, so he's my mekhutn."

  • "We'll need to make sure we order enough food for twelve people. We have our son, his wife, along with the machatunim."

  • "The relationship [with the machatunim] is awkward because its starting point is not a relaxed conversation about news, weather and sports, but rather about business – who pays for what?" (source)

  • "My daughter just got engaged. I guess I have to invite the machetunim over for dinner soon." (JPS)

  • "My mechutanim are coming all the way from Zurich for the bris." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH מחותן mechutan > Y מחותּן mekhutn

      • Who Uses This

      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
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      Alternative Spellings

      mehuten, mekhutan, mekhuten, mechutun, mechutn, mekhutun, mechutan, mekhutn, mehutan, mehutun, mehutn, mechoten, mechotn

Notes

  • plural: 'mechutonim', 'machutonim', 'machetunim', or 'mechutanim'

    See also mechuteneste.

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