mechuten
Definitions
n. In-law. (source)
n. The father of one's child's spouse, though can sometimes be used to refer to the grandfather of one's grandchild's spouse.
Example Sentences
"My daughter married his son, so he's my mekhutn."
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
- Yiddish
Etymology
Hebrew מחותן mechutan, Yiddish מחותּן mekhutn 'son-in-law's/daughter-in-law's father'. (Roughly 'of or belonging to the groom' although applying to either set of parents.)
- Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
- Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
- North America
- Great Britain
- South Africa
- 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).
- View More
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Dictionaries
Alternative Spellings
mehuten, mekhutan, mekhuten, mechutun, mechutn, mekhutun, mechutan, mekhutn, mehutan, mehutun, mehutn
Notes
Most often used in plural: mechutonim / machutonim / machetunim / mechutanim (מחותנים, parents of one's child's spouse; child's in-laws, spouse's extended family).
See also mechuteneste.
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