family

[ fam-uh-lee, fam-lee ]

noun

plural families.

1. 1. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not:

      the traditional family.

   2. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for:

      a single-parent family.

2. the children of one person or one couple collectively:

   We want a large family.

3. the spouse and children of one person:

   I'm taking the family on vacation next week.

4. any group of people closely related by blood or marriage, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins:

   to marry into a socially prominent family.

5. all those people considered as descendants of a common progenitor:

   the Tudor family of England.

6. Chiefly British. approved lineage, especially noble, titled, famous, or wealthy ancestry:

   young men of family.

7. a group of people who form a household under one head, including parents, children, servants, etc.
8. the staff, or body of assistants, of an official:

   the presidential family.

9. a group of people or things that are related by common characteristics, features, or properties:

   the family of romantic poets; the halogen family of elements.

10. a group of people who are generally not blood relations but who share common attitudes, interests, or goals and, frequently, live together: I’m not in contact with my relatives, so my friends are my family.

    Many hippie communes of the sixties regarded themselves as families.

    I’m not in contact with my relatives, so my friends are my family.

11. a group of people who are considered to be united in a common occupation or enterprise:

    Our volunteers are an important part of our hospital family.

12. an animal or animals with their young:

    There goes a duck family crossing the road.

13. a group of products or product models made by the same manufacturer or producer:

    Chevrolet's family of cars.

14. Biology. the usual major subdivision of an order or suborder in the classification of plants, animals, fungi, etc., usually consisting of several genera.
15. Slang. a unit of an organized crime syndicate, especially the Mafia or Cosa Nostra, operating in one area under a local leader.
16. Linguistics. the largest category into which languages related by common origin can be classified with certainty: Compare stock ( def 12 ), subfamily ( def 2 ).

    Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Austronesian are the most widely spoken families of languages.

17. Mathematics.
    1. a given class of solutions of the same basic equation, differing from one another only by the different values assigned to the constants in the equation.
    2. a class of functions or the like defined by an expression containing a parameter.
    3. a set.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a family:

   a family trait.

2. belonging to or used by a family:

   a family automobile; a family room.

3. suitable or appropriate for adults and children:

   a family amusement park.

4. not containing obscene language:

   The students made a game of looking up swearwords during library time, so the librarian is investing in a new set of family dictionaries.

family

/ ˈfæmɪlɪ; ˈfæmlɪ /

noun

1. 1. a primary social group consisting of parents and their offspring, the principal function of which is provision for its members
   2. ( as modifier )

      family quarrels

      a family unit

2. one's wife or husband and one's children
3. one's children, as distinguished from one's husband or wife
4. a group of persons related by blood; a group descended from a common ancestor Compare extended family
5. all the persons living together in one household
6. any group of related things or beings, esp when scientifically categorized
7. biology any of the taxonomic groups into which an order is divided and which contains one or more genera. Felidae (cat family) and Canidae (dog family) are two families of the order Carnivora
8. ecology a group of organisms of the same species living together in a community
9. a group of historically related languages assumed to derive from one original language
10. an independent local group of the Mafia
11. maths a group of curves or surfaces whose equations differ from a given equation only in the values assigned to one or more constants in each curve

    a family of concentric circles

12. physics the isotopes, collectively, that comprise a radioactive series
13. in the family way informal.
    pregnant

family

/ făm′ə-lē /

1. A group of organisms ranking above a genus and below an order. The names of families end in –ae, a plural ending in Latin. In the animal kingdom, family names end in –idae, as in Canidae (dogs and their kin), while those in the plant kingdom usually end in –aceae, as in Rosaceae (roses and their kin).
2. See Table at taxonomy

family

1. In biology , the classification lower than an order and higher than a genus . Lions, tigers, cheetahs, and house cats belong to the same biological family. Human beings belong to the biological family of hominids . ( See Linnean classification .)

Grammar Note

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

• an·ti·fam·i·ly adjective
• in·ter·fam·i·ly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of family¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English familie, from Latin familia “a household, the slaves of a household, domestics” equivalent to famul(us) “attendant, servant, slave” + -ia noun suffix; -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of family¹

C15: from Latin familia a household, servants of the house, from famulus servant

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in a / the family way, pregnant ¹( def 1 ).

More idioms and phrases containing family

see in a family way ; run in the blood (family) .

Example Sentences

Many viewers complained about the slowness of early episodes — and Duke was not happy with its prominence among the highly flawed Ratliff family — but given the show’s enormous success, perhaps some backlash was inevitable.

From Los Angeles Times

As the poison takes hold, Lochlan looks up at the surface to see the silhouettes of his family members, which are then replaced by silhouettes of Buddhist monks.

From Salon

In a family kitchen in Ohio, another skips the eggs entirely but slides the whole mess — pasta, sauce, meat, cheese — into the oven, no recipe in sight.

From Salon

"I may be a migrant too, but one whose family established the state in place."

From BBC

The hearing at the High Court on 1 April was told Aswat, who is currently being held at Bethlem Royal Hospital, is expected to return to his family in Yorkshire.

From BBC

Related Words

• clan
• folk
• group
• house
• household
• people
• tribe