| 释义 |
ˈmother-in-law
Also 6 moder of law, motherelawe, 7 mother law.
[See -in-law.]
1. The mother of one's husband or wife.
αc1440Promp. Parv. 341/1 Moodur in lawe, socrus. 1477Paston Lett. III. 175, I trow ther is not a kynder woman leveing then I shall have to my modyr in lawe. 1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) A a v, It is said, that mothers in lawes beare a stepmothers hate unto their daughters in lawes. 1688S. Penton Guard. Instr. (1897) 26 The everlasting Din of Mothers-in-law. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 130 note, His only crime was a refusal to gratify the desires of his mother-in-law. 1880Fison & Howitt Kamilaroi 203 Among the Kamilaroi, if a man be compelled to speak with his mother-in-law, the pair will turn their backs upon one another.
β1538Extracts Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 154 Jonat Barbour, hir moder of law.
γ1526Tindale Luke xii. 53 The motherelawe agaynst the doughterelawe. 1637in Bury Wills (Camden) 169 My mother lawes children.
2. = stepmother. Now regarded as incorrect.
1516St. Bridget in Myrr. our Ladye p. xlviii, Hir moder in lawe. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. x. 26 If she becomes a mother in law, there is no difference betwixt her carriage to her own and her second husbands children. 1732Fielding Miser iv. xiv, I know the word mother-in-law has a terrible sound; but perhaps I may make a better than you imagine. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, Miss Sharp will be your mother-in-law..that's what will happen.
3. slang. (See quot. 1886.)
1884Daily Tel. 3 July 5/4 (Farmer). 1886‘J. Bickerdyke’ Curios. Ale & Beer 392 Mother-in-law... The drink of this name is composed of equal proportions of ‘old and bitter’.
4. mother-in-law's tongue, a tropical African herbaceous plant, Sansevieria trifasciata or its variety laurentii, of the family Liliaceæ, distinguished by a rosette of long, pointed leaves with white or yellow markings, and often cultivated as a house plant.
1958Times 29 Nov. 9/5 Probably the most long-suffering house plant is the ‘Mother-in-law's Tongue’. 1961Amateur Gardening 11 Nov. 7/1 The sansevieria, because of its sword-like shape has received the unsympathetic name of Mother-in-Law's Tongue. 1970‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird ii. 15 The place was modern and airy and full of..mother-in-law's tongue in long boxes. 1974Times 5 Oct. 12/1 The real tough ones include aspidistras,..mother in law's tongue Sansevieria laurentii and the rubber plant Ficus elastica.
Hence mother-in-law v. nonce-wd., to rule as a mother-in-law.
1855Dickens Dorrit ii. xiv, I will not..submit to be mother-in-lawed by Mrs. General. |