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family

American  

[fam-uh-lee, fam-lee] / ˈfæm ə li, ˈfæm li /

noun

• families
  plural

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.

    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.

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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.

idioms

1. in a / the family way, pregnant.

family British  

/ 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. informal pregnant

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family Scientific  

/ 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

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family Cultural  

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.)

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family More Idioms  

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

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Grammar

See collective noun.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antifamily
  adjective
• interfamily
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• families
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of family

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; see -y ³

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Explanation

If you refer to your family, you're probably talking about a group of people who are related to you by blood or marriage. Family is used many different ways. It can mean "household," or the people you live with, or it can refer to a partner and the children you are raising together. Your family can include people you've never met, like distant cousins, if you're using it to talk about the wider group of all of your relatives. There's also the scientific term family, which is a term that ranks the way different organisms are related to each other.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

family families

Alfozan, his wife and another family member had booked one-way tickets to Saudi Arabia, according to the complaint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

It was the same day he had been due to have an interview with family court representatives about his father.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Passing down a family business or vacation home might seem like a generous gift to future generations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

"This Saturday, October 17, will be a celebration of our collective power. Walk together to the polls. Organize rides. Bring your neighbors, friends, and family," she urged participants.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

“The things I do to keep my family away from a culinary black hole,” he says, taking out his cell to place the order on his app.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

It added the nature of their work reflected the "changing pressures" faced by local families.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Drawing on her work advising families, she explains why inheritances can become a source of resentment—and what families can do to prevent disputes before they begin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Also exposed was information about student disabilities and student eligibility status for federal programs, such as those available to help students from low-income families.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

The charity said in its early years it gave financial support to a number of larger community projects benefiting children but there was now an increasing focus on helping individual children and families.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

“You said there are thirty-four names. Running around Baltimore trying to track down thirty-four families… it’s scattershot. And it would take forever.”

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

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