mechuten

Alternative Spellings

mechutan, mekhutun, mechutn, mekhutn, mehutan

Definitions

• the father of one's child's spouse

Example Sentences

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

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew, Yiddish

Etymology

Heb מחותן mekhután, Yiddish מחותּן mekhútn 'son-in-law's/daughter-in-law's father'. (Roughly 'of or belonging to the groom' although applying to either set of parents.)

Who Uses This

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

Regions

North America

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 Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001)

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). Female: machetayneste / macheteyneste (מחותּנתטע mekhuténeste, mother-in-law, the Yiddish female form of מחותּן)