義ぎ父ふ

ぎ

ふ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

father-in-law

Refers to one's spouse's father. The most common meaning.

義ぎ父ふは来らい月げつ定てい年ねん退たい職しょくします。
My father-in-law will retire next month.

noun

foster father

A man who raises a child as his own without being the biological father. Less common than father-in-law.

彼かれは幼おさない頃ころから義ぎ父ふに育そだてられた。
He was raised by his foster father from a young age.

noun

stepfather

A man who is married to one's biological mother but is not one's biological father.

義ぎ父ふとは最さい初しょはぎこちなかったが、今いまは仲なかが良よい。
At first things were awkward with my stepfather, but now we get along well.

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Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉の義ぎ父ふに会あうto meet someone's father-in-law
来らい週しゅう、初はじめて彼かの女じょの義ぎ父ふに会あう予よ定ていだ。
Next week I'm going to meet her father-in-law for the first time.
義ぎ父ふと同どう居きょするto live together with one's father-in-law
結けっ婚こん後ご、義ぎ父ふと同どう居きょすることになった。
After getting married, we ended up living together with my father-in-law.
義ぎ父ふの介かい護ごをするto take care of one's (elderly) father-in-law
妻つまは義ぎ父ふの介かい護ごをしながら働はたらいている。
My wife works while also taking care of her father-in-law.

Kanji

義righteousness, justice, morality
父father

Related words

岳がく父ふ sense 1
岳父 is a more formal, literary word for father-in-law, while 義父 is the everyday term used in speech and writing.
継けい父ふ sense 3
継父 is the common, unambiguous word for a stepfather, while 義父 in this sense is a slightly more formal or indirect way to say the same thing.
養よう父ふ sense 2
養父 specifically denotes a legally adoptive father, whereas 義父 in this sense can loosely refer to any man raising a child as his own without formal adoption.
舅しゅうとN1
義父 is the general, formal word for 'father-in-law' usable for either spouse's father, while 舅 specifically and traditionally means the husband's father.

Opposites

実じっ父ぷ sense 2
実父 means one's biological father, contrasting with 義父 which refers to a father-in-law, foster father, or stepfather who is not one's blood relation.
義ぎ母ぼN1
義母 is the female counterpart of 義父, referring to a mother-in-law, foster mother, or stepmother rather than a father figure.

Don't confuse with

養よう父ふ
義父 usually means father-in-law (or a stepfather in some contexts), whereas 養父 specifically means a father through legal adoption or fostering.

Counted with

名めいN2
counter for people (honorific) · first name; given name · famous; great; noted · name; title · noun (grammar)

Etymology

Compound of 義 (gi, 'non-biological, in-law') and 父 (fu, 'father'). The kanji 義 carries the sense of a relationship created by marriage or social bond rather than blood.