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English

Wikipedia has an article on: Family (people) Wikipedia has an article on: Family (taxonomy)

Wikipedia

Most common English words: seems « soul « French « #400: family » earth » live » hard

Etymology

Latin familia, from famula (“‘female servant’”).

Pronunciation

Noun

Singular family

Plural countable and uncountable; plural families

family (countable and uncountable; plural families)

  1. (countable) A father, mother and their sons and daughters; also called nuclear family.
    Her nuclear family was very small.
  2. (countable) A group of people related by blood, marriage, law, or custom.
  3. (countable) A kin, tribe; also called extended family.
  4. (countable, biology, taxonomy) A rank in the classification of organisms, below order and above genus; a taxon at that rank.
    Magnolias belong to the family Magnoliaceae.
  5. (countable) A group of people who live together.
    This is my fraternity family at the university.
  6. (countable) A group of people similar to related by blood, marriage, law, or custom.
    Our company is one big happy family.
  7. (uncountable) Collectively, people who are members of one's intimate social group.
    They treated me like family.
  8. (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.
  9. (countable, music) A group of instrument having the same basic method of tone production.
    the brass family
    the violin family
  10. (countable, linguistics) A group of languages believed to have descended from the same ancestral language.
    the Indo-European language family
    the Afro-Asiatic language family
  11. Used attributively.
    The dog was kept as a family pet.
    For Apocynaceae, this type of flower is a family characteristic.

Usage notes

In some dialects, family is used as a plurale tantum.

Synonyms

Adjective

family (not comparable)

Positive family

Comparative not comparable

Superlative none (absolute)
  1. Suitable for children and adults.
    It's not good for a date, it's a family restaurant.
    Some animated movies are not just for kids, they are family movies.
  2. Conservative, traditonal.
    The cultural struggle is for the survival of family values against all manner of atheistic amorality.
  3. (slang) Homosexual.
    I knew he was family when I first met him.

Translations

homosexual
  • Danish: queer da(da),
  • French: en est fr(fr), jaquette fr(fr)
  • German: vom anderen Ufer sein de(de)
  • Norwegian: skeiv
  • Swedish: bög sv(sv)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or adjective family

Related terms

See also

External links

 

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