family tree

American

noun

a genealogical chart showing the ancestry, descent, and relationship of all members of a family or other genealogical group.

family tree British

noun

Also called: genealogical tree. a chart showing the genealogical relationships and lines of descent of a family

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of family tree

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

By building a genetic family tree and tracking how lineages spread between regions, they were able to estimate when different groups diverged.

From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026

Finn and his Danish relatives had similar physical characteristics to the UK couple - light eyes and brown hair, an extended family tree showed.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

To place this species within the rhino family tree, Fraser and her team analyzed 57 other rhinocerotid species, most of which are extinct.

From Science Daily • Mar. 24, 2026

He joined Team Italy in 2023 to honor his Italian grandfather, then spent the next few years championing the squad to anyone he could find with an Italian branch on their family tree.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

“Mom, can you help me with this family tree assignment?”

From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023