brother-in-law
/ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn ˌlɔ/
"brother-in-law" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brother-in-law” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A male relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:
Corpus desk
Index EN-brother-in-law · brother-in-law · English
brother-in-law · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brother-in-law |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn ˌlɔ/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “brother-in-law” in English
Rare enough to double-check
brother-in-law is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɹʌðɚ ɪn ˌlɔ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for brother-in-law, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brother-in-lawe; equivalent to brother + -in-law. The correct English form is brother-in-law, spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R---I-N---L-A-W.
Definition
- 1A male relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:
- 2A male relative of one's generation, separated by one degree of marriage:
- 3Co-brother-in-law: A male relative of one's generation, separated by two degrees of marriage:
- 4Co-brother-in-law: A male relative of one's generation, separated by two degrees of marriage:
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how brother-in-law appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its insider trading investigation into stock trades made by then-Sen. Richard Burr and his brother-in-law at the outset of the pandemic, the former senator announced Friday.
He was appalled by trench conditions and the prolongation of the war, a disillusionment further encouraged by the Easter rising, in which his brother-in-law, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (qv), was murdered by a deranged Anglo–Irish officer, J. C. Bowen-Colthurst (qv).
Etymology
From Middle English brother-in-lawe; equivalent to brother + -in-law.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.