Questions tagged [kinship-terms]
Questions about kinship terms (words for family members).
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Spouse/child family versus parent/sibling family [duplicate]
There are times when I need to refer to the family comprised of my spouse and children versus when I need to refer to my family comprised of my parents and siblings.
Are their words to distinguish ...
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Relationship name my wife's sister's son [closed]
What is the relationship name for my wife's sister's son? My wife has a sister who has a son. Would it be called nephew in law?
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Terms for grandparents and other relatives [closed]
I’m a teenager from the Midwest. Different people obviously refer to their relatives in many different ways, and I’ve noticed a wide variance in what people call their grandparents.
Many people who ...
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2
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Inclusive word/expression for couples that aren't man-woman [closed]
I want to refer to all couples which aren’t man-woman couples.
One expression would be “same-sex couples”. But even "same-sex" doesn't cover everything, as it reaffirms the idea of binary ...
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Why do we say "blood" when speaking about kinship
The usage of the term blood when speaking about relatives, like blood relatives, blood right, bloodline is not obvious at all, when I start to think about it. I wonder what are the origins of it, ...
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Do I have ‘a family of five’ or ‘a family of six’?
I have a mom, a dad, two sisters, and a brother.
Do I write “I have a family of six” or “I have a family of five”?
In other words, do I include myself in the count?
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Alternative term(s) for 'not my family', 'not my kin'?
I am looking for a term that describes not-family, or not kin. Other than not-family and not-kin. Ideally a term without a negation (not, no, non, sans...).
War and especially genocide is preceded by ...
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Equivalent of "in-laws" if we're just engaged
I wonder how do you call your fiancée's family, basically, an equivalent of in-laws but for case we're not married yet. Is there any such a simple notion to describe this situation?
I'm looking for a ...
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3
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Should "aunt" be capitalized in this sentence? [duplicate]
Should "aunt" be capitalized in this sentence?
Jan's aunt Cindy took a ceramics class.
Should it be - Jan's Aunt Cindy or Jan's aunt Cindy?
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Is there a "-nym" word for kinship terms?
... or do we just say "kinship terms" or "family relationship terms" or something like that?
In English we have for example "aunt" and "uncle" meaning "...
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descend from vs be descended from
Merriam-Webster gives two examples on the usage of "descend from" vs "be descended from" in https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/descend%20from .
The plants descend from a ...
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Is there a term for people on the same line of the family tree?
I accidentally confused "generation" and this a long time ago, but now I'm curious.
If two people are both 1st cousins, they are on the same line.
siblings? (or half, or just, 1Qth cousin ...
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1
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What do you call a male child of your female cousin? [duplicate]
OK, a nephew is a male child of your siblings.
But what do you call a male child of your female cousin?
A cousin nephew?
A nephew cousin?
...?
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What does a girl call the second husband of her widowed stepmother? [closed]
The girl's father has died and his wife, her stepmother, becomes her legal guardian. When the stepmother remarries, is her husband the girl's stepfather? If not, what is he?
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Mrs and Mr His Full Name
My father’s name is Piyush Singh and my mother’s name is Seema Singh. My
question is whether referring to them as Mrs and Mr Piyush Singh wrong.
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592
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A word to distinguish between father's and mother's sister [duplicate]
Is there a word in English that distinguishes between the mother’s brother and the father’s brother, or the mother's sister and the father's sister? The words ‘uncle’ and 'aunt' don't seem to do the ...
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Where does the English system of kinship terms for cousins ("Nth cousin K times removed") come from?
A recent question on our sister site made me wonder about something: where does the standard system of distinguishing different types of cousins in English via degrees and removals (as in "Nth ...
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On the capitalization of familial honorifics
We all know that Mom and Dad are capitalized when used in dialogue as a substitute for a name.
But is it the same for big sister, big brother, big sis, and big bro?
One example of the sentence would ...
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What term to use to say "family" that includes relatives, not in same household sense but blood-connection sense [duplicate]
I am trying to write a sentence like the following:
"No one within my extended family has ever gone abroad for higher education." Here by family I want to mean my parents, siblings, uncles, ...
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How would you capitalize sister-in-law as a form of address?
I'm editing a chapter of a novel translated from Chinese, where kinship terms are often used as a form of address replacing a name. In this case, the speaker is referring to another woman as "...
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Is there a term to describe the relationship between both of my brothers in law?
Is there an easier way of describing the relationship of my spouses brother to my sisters spouse?
I am Rob, my wife is Sophie and her brother is Will. My sister is Rebecca and her husband is Tom. What ...
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Can you address people in the same family by the first and last name of the patriach?
If you have "Jane and John Smith and their kids," and John's brother's family made up of "Mai and Bruce Smith and their kids," and you want to distinguish which of the Smith families you are talking ...
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is there a word or phrase for the family unit that only includes "immediate family" but not spouses and children?
This word would include me, my brothers and sister as well as my mother and father. It would not include my wife or kids. And as a bonus, is there a word for the group that would only include myself,...
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Relationship between my paternal aunt and maternal uncle
I have an aunt by marriage on my dad's side who is his sister-in-law and an uncle by blood on my mom's side who is her brother. Would my aunt and uncle be considered sister-in-law and brother-in-law ...
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When talking to the child of a same sex couple, is it more standard to say "your parents" or "your fathers"/"your mothers"? [closed]
When talking about an opposite sex couple, it's standard to talk about "your parents", because it's a lot less wordy than "your mother and father". But what's more standard for a same sex couple? "...
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In the following sentence, shouldn't "family" take its plural form?
Here is an excerpt from IELTS OG.:
For example, when my cousins were backpacking around the world, they were able to reassure their family and friends that....
I find the use of family in its ...
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What Do You Call Your Child's Sibling
Pretty much in the title but to make it more explicit:
You have a child X
X has a half-sibling Y
You are not in a relationship with either of Y's parents (formerly you were with one of them to ...
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Is the husband of my mother's sister my uncle, even if he perished before I was born?
This question is related to an original question asked 9 years ago but with a twist. The OP was asking about familial titles
This was the original question.
This may seem an odd and morbid ...
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Name for the relationship of my wife's father's sister's son to me? [duplicate]
What is the name for the relationship of my wife's father's sister's son to me?
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What would be the husband of my daughter-in-law for me? [closed]
I've been asking myself this question recently:
If I have a daughter-in-law, what would be her husband to me? Do I have any family-related names with him or not at all?
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Early 1800s "step sister"?
In an 1804 will written in Philadelphia, if a woman (Mary) gave some of her inheritance to her "step sister", does this necessarily mean the same as it does today? I read elsewhere that the term "step"...
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Is there a term for all of your parents' children?
In other words, is there a collective term for describing your siblings and yourself?
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Child who was cast out but ended up succeeding?
I'm looking for a word for a child who was cast out, cast aside, ignored or discriminated against relative to other children, but ended up succeeding despite it all.
Used in a sentence:
Alice ...
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Spelling of Vietnamese names in formal context
I am a professor and I have a Vietnamese student called, say, Nguyen Hoang Thang. How should I write his name in the official documents, such as his diploma or transcript? How should his name be ...
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Who are my uncle's parents to me, if my uncle is related by marriage?
For a blood relative, your uncle's parents are your grandparents. What do you call an uncle's parents if he's related by marriage? Step-grandparents? Grandparent-in-laws?
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Is the right term to call the children of your sister wives in a polygynous marriage "stepchildren"?
I came across this issue while describing in writing the relatives of a woman commonly known in the West as Princess Haya.
Princess Haya is the youngest of four current wives of the current ruler of ...
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My father's first wife [closed]
What do I call to my father's first wife as I am from my father's second wife's child. Step mom is for my father's 2nd wife by children by first wife or it applies to both?
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Word for sibling's sibling-in-law? [duplicate]
Imagine this scenario:
Amy and Brent are sister and brother.
Clive and Derek are brothers.
Amy marries Clive.
Derek is therefore Amy's brother-in-law.
Brent is also Clive's brother-in-law.
Derek and ...
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What is my 1st cousin twice removed 4 great grandfather to me? [closed]
My first cousin twice removed married my great-great aunt, so what is my first cousin twice removed’s four-times-great-grandfather to me?
Do we share common ancestors?
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What are the parents of your uncle's wife called?
Your parent has a sibling who is married. Is there a specific term for the sibling's spouse's parents? Or are they still your grandparents?
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What word is there for a man and a woman who have children together but are not in a romantic relationship and were never married? [closed]
I am trying to find a word in any language that would indicate the relationship of two people specifically because they have mated/bred/procreated together.
The closest I can find is co-parent but ...
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'my eldest son'
If there are three children in the family:
A. a boy, eldest
B. a girl
C. a boy, youngest
Is it correct for their father to refer to A as 'my eldest son' and to B as 'my younger daughter'? If not, ...
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The relation of your cousin’s cousin [duplicate]
My aunt Diana is married to a man named Evens, he’s legally my uncle. They have two daughters named Daili and Diane whom are my cousins. Daili and Diane have a cousin named Daniela who is Evers niece. ...
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The daughters of a grand uncle
I just had dinner with some family.
There, was the mother of my father (grandmother), the brother of my grandmother (grand uncle?), his daughters (???), and their children (???)
How do you call ...
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Referring to uncle's wife as "aunt" vs. nephew's wife as "niece"
I may be going out on a pragmatic/cultural limb here, but is there an asymmetry in the commonly accepted practice of referring to your uncle's wife as "aunt" but not referring to your nephew's wife as ...
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How do I refer to the unmarried mother of my grandson?
My son had a child with his girlfriend. Since they’re not married, how do I refer to her. Is daughter-in-law proper?
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Gender-neutral version of widow & widower?
Would it make more sense to use a third, different word, e.g. "spouse" instead of wife & husband, or use one of them, e.g. "actor" for actor & actress.
"Widow" seems like the obvious choice, ...
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Are my half siblings related to my half brother? [closed]
My parents Bianca and Ivan are currently married and have always been since before I was born. Both of my parents have had previous relationships in the past. Bianca had a previous relationship with ...
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What’s the name for Gary and Harry’s blood relationship?
Imagine that Gary and Harry are these two guys in a hypothetical family,
described in English below and in this diagram represented by the green cells at the bottom:
As you see, Gary and Harry are ...
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Heteronormative for nuclear family structure?
Heteronormative is used to refer to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as normal or preferred. It is usually in reference to sexual orientation. Is there a separate word for describing a ...
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