FAMILY

family, family unit

(noun) primary social group; parents and children; “he wanted to have a good job before starting a family”

family, family line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, sept, phratry

(noun) people descended from a common ancestor; “his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower”

class, category, family

(noun) a collection of things sharing a common attribute; “there are two classes of detergents”

family, household, house, home, menage

(noun) a social unit living together; “he moved his family to Virginia”; “It was a good Christian household”; “I waited until the whole house was asleep”; “the teacher asked how many people made up his home”; “the family refused to accept his will”

family

(noun) (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera; “sharks belong to the fish family”

family, fellowship

(noun) an association of people who share common beliefs or activities; “the message was addressed not just to employees but to every member of the company family”; “the church welcomed new members into its fellowship”

syndicate, crime syndicate, mob, family

(noun) a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities

kin, kinsperson, family

(noun) a person having kinship with another or others; “he’s kin”; “he’s family”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

family (countable and uncountable, plural families)

(countable) A group of people who are closely related to one another (by blood, marriage or adoption); kin; for example, a set of parents and their children; an immediate family.

(countable) An extended family; a group of people who are related to one another by blood or marriage.

(countable) A (close-knit) group of people related by blood, friendship, marriage, law, or custom, especially if they live or work together.

(uncountable, taxonomy) lineage, especially an honorable one

(countable, taxonomy) A rank in the classification of organisms, below order and above genus; a taxon at that rank.

(countable) Any group or aggregation of things classed together as kindred or related from possessing in common characteristics which distinguish them from other things of the same order.

(countable, music) A group of instruments having the same basic method of tone production.

(countable, linguistics) A group of languages believed to have descended from the same ancestral language.

Used attributively.

Usage notes

• In some dialects, family is used as a plural (only) noun.

Synonyms

• (relatives): flesh and blood, kin, kinfolk

• (class): class

Hyponyms

• (relatives): nuclear family, immediate family, extended family

• (computing): C family

Adjective

family (not comparable)

Suitable for children and adults.

Conservative, traditional.

(slang) Homosexual.

Source: Wiktionary

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Fam"i*ly, n.; pl. Families. Etym: [L. familia, fr. famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells, Skr. dhaman house, fr. dhato set, make, do: cf. F. famille. Cf. Do, v. t., Doom, Fact, Feat.]

1. The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.

2. The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society. The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. H. Spencer.

3. Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family. Go ! and pretennd your family is young. Pope.

4. Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.

5. Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.

6. A groupe of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.

7. (Biol.)

Definition: A groupe of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In zoölogy a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order. Family circle. See under Circle.

– Family man. (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him andd dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. "The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men." Mayhew.

– Family of curves or surfaces (Geom.), a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation.

– In a family way, like one belonging to the family. "Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks" Thackeray.

– In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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