Relationships

married people

Married people are also referred to as a couple or a married couple. The formal or legal word for a husband or wife is spouse

• This travel insurance covers both spouse and dependent children

Informal words for husband or wife are hubby and missus 

if a marriage ends

If someone's husband or wife has died, they are a widow (female)/widower (male), and the dead person is called their late husband/wife

A child whose parents are both dead is an orphan. They might be adopted or fostered by someone

If a couple separate, they stop living together, sometimes as part of a legal arrangement. If this is a trial separation they may get back together again. If they divorce, they end their marriage through a legal proces

The person who they were married to is their ex-(husband/wife or their ex (informal

• I hear my ex has moved in with his new girlfriend

a new marriage

If one of your parents marries again, you have a stepmother or stepfather, and you are a stepson or stepdaughter

• He has never been close to his stepmother

If your stepmother/father already has children, these are your stepbrothers or stepsisters

If your parent has another child with their new husband or wife, this is your half-brother or half-sister

These words are not usually used by the members of a family when addressing each other. They might use first names when addressing step parents.

a new child in the family

a new child in the family

When a person or couple adopts a child, they legally raise the child as their own. They are adoptive parents and their child is adopted

When a person or couple fosters a child, they take care of the child, usually for a limited period of time. They are foster parents and the child is a foster child

• She spent her teens in foster care

These words are not normally used within the family.