Questions about kinship terms (words for family members).
3
votes
3answers
320 views
Term for one brother–sister pair marrying another?
While translating a book on the aboriginal people of northwest India, I came across a tradition of marriages, where one brother–sister pair were married to another brother–sister pair, as well as many ...
0
votes
0answers
108 views
What do you call the following relations? [closed]
English is not my mother tongue. In my language we have dedicated words for each of relatives two levels up and two levels down. I don't know the equal word for these relations in English and it keeps ...
0
votes
1answer
272 views
Difference between “second cousin” and “first cousin once removed” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an accepted rule for naming all of our various distant relatives (Kinship Terms)?
What is the difference between second cousin and first cousin once removed? Is ...
-1
votes
4answers
304 views
“Twin brothers” and “cousin brothers”
Is "twin brothers" correct? Or is it also incorrect like "cousin brother"?
4
votes
3answers
269 views
Usage — referring to my husband as my son's dad?
I received an invitation for a session at my son's (John) school. The teacher had asked us to confirm our attendance for the event. I wrote the following
John's Dad and I will be attending the ...
5
votes
2answers
743 views
Is there a special English name for one’s mother’s sister’s son? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Family Relationships
My friend is trying to find out what is needed to apply for a work visa in Canada. You get extra points for having a relative with citizenship. ...
2
votes
2answers
3k views
Name for the relationship of wife’s sister’s husband
Is there a name for the relationship of my wife’s sister’s husband in English? Or in case of a lady, what is the relationship of her husband’s brother’s wife called? There are words for these ...
8
votes
3answers
224 views
My family vs. my family
Is there any lingual way to differentiate between the family that I’m a child of and the family that I am a parent of? (I.e., the first family consists of my parents, my siblings, and me; the second ...
3
votes
3answers
437 views
Is there a word for my ex-spouse's new spouse?
With modern high divorce rates, a lot of people get married more than once in their lives. Saying "my ex-wife's new husband" is a bit awkward. Is there anything more graceful?
I came across it in ...
0
votes
2answers
313 views
What's the adjective to the word “sibling” [closed]
I'm looking for the adjective that goes with sibling. My sentence would be something like:
The [...] relationship.
So the adjective would be used to denote that the relationship is one between ...
3
votes
6answers
301 views
youngest of his siblings [closed]
I have a problem with this sentence:
He was one of the youngest of his siblings.
The meaning should be clear: he had many brothers and sisters, and he was one of the youngest of the lot, but the ...
11
votes
6answers
2k views
Is there a more concise term for a long-term girlfriend/boyfriend than “significant other”?
I've been together with my boyfriend for around 9 years now. There are times when I want to communicate that I am referring to someone who plays a major role in my life, like that of a husband, and ...
5
votes
1answer
225 views
What is the adjective of “daughter-in-law” if she is “the wife of my younger son”?
Here, I am confused. I cannot say "younger daughter-in-law" as the order of sons is defined by their age but we can't say that about their wives. So shall I say "my second daughter-in-law"?
13
votes
3answers
341 views
What’s the parent of a clone called?
Let’s say X is cloned to make Y and Y is cloned to make Z. Is there a word that uniquely identifies X in relation to Y? How about identifying X in relation to Z?
2
votes
3answers
115 views
Which is appropriate while addressing in-laws?
Which is appropriate while addressing in-laws?
My mother-in-law and father-in-law are visiting us this weekend.
Or:
My mother and father-in-law are visiting us this weekend.
1
vote
0answers
92 views
Please explain the statement [closed]
In fact, Brian Lara and Bravo's mother are first cousins meaning Bravo
and Brian Lara are first cousins once removed.
Source: Darren Bravo Wiki
4
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the female equivalent for “uxorious”?
I know the word uxorious that is used to describe a husband who dotes on his wife excessively. What is the corresponding word for a wife who loves her husband dearly? I cannot pull anything out of my ...
4
votes
2answers
478 views
Word to describe gay people who are in a relationship with each other
Can I use these words?
A gay couple (not sure if couple can be used only for married
people)
A gay lovers (not sure if I should put s here or if lovers can be
used to describe two people ...
3
votes
4answers
223 views
Is “purse-lipped mother-in-law” an established word representing for a woman who is censoriousness and nagging about everything?
I found an interesting phrase, “purse-lipped mother-in-law” in the following lines of the article titled “The newspaper that rules Britain,” which appeared in New Yorker magazine, April 2nd, 2012 ...
6
votes
3answers
679 views
Word for grieving parents?
Is there a word that describes a parent whose child has died?
Along the lines of "orphan", "widow", and "widower", is there a single word for a parent who has lost a child (of any age)?
2
votes
1answer
174 views
Word for parents of your child's partner
There are words for relationships obtained by marriage or partnership of family members: xxx-in-law. But, surprisingly, there is no word (that I know of) for the parents of your child's partner. Or is ...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Meaning of “direct descendant” as opposed to “indirect descendant”
I know what a descendant is. A’s children, grandchildren and greatn-grandchildren are all A’s descendants.
But what does direct descendant mean? It is as if some of those people are A’s direct ...
6
votes
2answers
455 views
Word for parent of a single child?
Is there a word that means “a parent who has exactly one child”?
EDIT: I am asking for purposes of creating a computing construct. But if there were an answer that is clearly correct for another ...
1
vote
1answer
497 views
Non-gender uncle/aunt relation name [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a single term for “nieces and nephews”?
Is there a gender-neutral word for [aunts and uncles], parents' siblings?
The non-gender name for ...
8
votes
3answers
413 views
Is there a feminine equivalent to the adjective “avuncular”?
My brief researches only bring up the word "auntlike" to render the feminine equivalent of avuncular. Surely, though, and given the etymology of "aunt" [ < Latin amita -father's sister, old ...
0
votes
3answers
496 views
What is the term for “cousin of a cousin”?
My mother’s sister’s son is my cousin; let’s call him “John”.
John’s father’s brother’s son — let’s call him Mark — is John’s cousin.
Now, Mark isn’t my direct cousin as we don't share any immediate ...
7
votes
1answer
368 views
What do people usually mean when they ask “Do you have a family?”
When American people ask you, "Do you have a family?" does that mean "Do you have any children?" or just "Are you married?"
1
vote
4answers
289 views
Equivalent of “married” for people in a relationship?
When asked the question “Are you in a relationship?” an appropriate answer would be “No, I’m married.” However, if asked “Are you married?” you may say "No, I’m in a relationship.”
But my question ...
5
votes
3answers
603 views
What should one call his or her mother-in-law? [closed]
We call our own mother "mum". What should we call our mother-in-law? In China, we call our mother-in-law "mum" as well. Do English speaking people feel comfortable calling their mother-in-law "mum"? ...
14
votes
6answers
560 views
Paucity of words for relationships
Please refer the following questions asked elsewhere on this site:
Is there a word that means "the wife of one's brother"?
What is the relationship name of my wife's brother to me?
...
6
votes
2answers
964 views
Term for relationship to cousin's child [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an accepted rule for naming all of our various distant relatives (Kinship Terms)?
My relationship to my cousin's dad is nephew-uncle.
My relationship to my ...
5
votes
1answer
687 views
Word/phrase for parent whose children have grown up and left home [closed]
Is there a single word or phrase that means a parent whose grown-up children are not living with them?
10
votes
7answers
5k views
Word for partner you are living with but not married to
What is a word for a person you live with but are not married to? I do not mean a room mate, but rather someone you are romantically involved with. From what I understand, spouse is someone you are ...
1
vote
1answer
358 views
Is “elder brother” implicit in “brother”?
I just watched a film called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.
I wonder how one knows whether he is an elder brother or a younger brother when he only says that he has a brother and does not ...
1
vote
2answers
619 views
Use of “brother” in non-family and non-religious contexts
I think the word brother (sometimes spelled brotha or bro) has been used for a long time among African Americans when talking to one another with the meaning of "pal" and not in a family context.
...
4
votes
1answer
314 views
“Son-in-law” or “son-by-law” [closed]
Why is there in in -in-law instead of by or something similar? Simon Jester, in his answer to this question, quotes the Oxford English Dictionary which says that it originally applied to ...
4
votes
3answers
662 views
“Oldest son or oldest daughter”
Contract states
Upon the death of the stockholder his interest shall pass to the
oldest son or oldest daughter.
I am the oldest daughter and have a younger brother. Who gets the interest?
9
votes
8answers
725 views
Replacement for “brethren” to refer to mostly female group
The word brethren would generally be used to refer to a group of people which have something making them an integrated unit. To exemplify my point in case:
The Catholic Brethren...
My college ...
9
votes
2answers
448 views
father-in-law = step-father?
I've been reading Middlemarch, and came across a usage of father-in-law which, from context, must mean step-father. Later in the same novel, the phrase father-in-law was used as we would use it today. ...
1
vote
2answers
436 views
Which one can be named or acknowledged as the elder brother (sister) between twins who was born earlier and later in UK and America?
There is the following sentence in Jeffery Archer’s detective story False Impression:
Arabella was so wise and sensible. If only her beloved twin had been born a few minutes earlier rather than a ...
2
votes
1answer
147 views
Single term to include children from multiple births
I’m wondering if there is single term to indicate that a child is a twin, triplet, quadruplet, etc., without specifying the exact number of siblings in the multiple birth. For example, a ...
16
votes
1answer
265 views
I was raised being called “sister” by my family. What's the background on this usage?
I was called "sister", as a replacement for my name. (Oddly, my brother was not called "brother.") I never questioned this growing up in the 50's in a rural area. It says much about the culture I grew ...
2
votes
2answers
787 views
What does “separated at birth” mean?
Sometimes, you come across someone saying something (usually tongue-in-cheek), which might go like this:
Tom: I really love eating noodles while watching Star Trek.
Linda: Wow, I do exactly the ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Name for relation between a man’s two wives?
What is the relation between the two wives of a man called?
2
votes
2answers
293 views
What is the correct word for Step siblings?
I'm creating a list of family members:
Biological, Justin, 5/20/1981
Biological, John, 1/20/1987
Adopted, Jane, 8/12/1989
Step, Doug, 12/1/1979
When listing out the type of sibling, ...
1
vote
3answers
265 views
“I'm my own grandpa” – is there a word for this?
I was listening to a Chad Morgan record today, on which his cover of the song I'm my own grandpa features as the first track.
The lyrics of the song describe a bizzare, but plausible scenario, in ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is it “grandfather”, but “great-uncle”?
I know that there are six forms of this word, but "great-uncle" is most common ("great-aunt" has a similar graph). Why is this, if "grandfather" and "grandmother" are common?
14
votes
4answers
2k views
When describing a person without siblings, should I say “the -” or “an only child”?
I understand the phrase "only child" means the only person born from or adopted by a set of parents in a family, or a person with no siblings. I often hear the term used as "an only child," which ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views
Plural form of “Son-in-law” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Words that are pluralized in the middle?
I've heard it pronounced both ways:
Sons-in-law
and
Son-in-laws
While one may be more technically correct than the ...
7
votes
3answers
818 views
Is there a gender-neutral word for [aunts and uncles], parents' siblings?
Brothers and sisters are siblings. Husbands and wives are spouses. Mothers and fathers are parents. Sons and daughters are children. Grandparents, grandchildren... but what about uncles and aunts, ...
