family
family Lexical Profile
family Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A social unit consisting of one or more parents and their children living together as a household.
"The entire family gathered in the kitchen to prepare the holiday meal."
All the descendants of a common ancestor, or a group of people related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
"She traveled across the country to attend her annual family reunion."
A principal taxonomic rank in biological classification situated below an order and above a genus, usually comprising several related genera.
"Lions, tigers, and domestic cats all belong to the taxonomic family Felidae."
A group of things, languages, or concepts that share common characteristics or derive from a common origin.
"Spanish, French, and Italian belong to the Romance family of languages."
• adjective
Designed to be suitable for children as well as adults, or intended for use by an entire household.
"They decided to watch a lighthearted family movie after dinner."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a collective noun, 'family' takes a singular verb when viewed as a single unit (e.g., 'the family is moving'), but in British English it frequently takes a plural verb when emphasizing the individual members (e.g., 'the family are all arriving separately').
• Rhymes for family
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Latin 'familia', meaning 'household establishment' or 'servants of a household', derived from 'famulus' ('servant'). In English, the meaning shifted during the 16th and 17th centuries from everyone living under one roof to people connected by blood or marriage.