mechuten

Pronunciations

mechuten (muh-KHUU-tn) listen

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)

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).

      Alternative Spellings

      mehuten, mekhutan, mekhuten, mechutun, mechutn, mekhutun, mechutan, mekhutn, mehutan, mehutun, mehutn, mechoten, mechotn, machatunim, mechutonim, machutonim, machetunim, mechutanim

Notes

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


    See also mechuteneste.

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