familiarity
[fuh-mil-ee-ar-i-tee, -mil-yar-]
- thorough knowledge or mastery of a thing, subject, etc.
- the state of being familiar; friendly relationship; close acquaintance; intimacy.
- an absence of ceremony and formality; informality.
- freedom of behavior justified only by the closest relationship; undue intimacy.
- Often familiarities. an instance of such freedom, as in action or speech.
- a sexual liberty or impropriety.
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Origin of familiarity
Synonyms
See more synonyms for familiarity on Thesaurus.com3. unconstraint. 4. liberty, freedom, license.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for familiarity
Contemporary Examples
And there is definitely something to finding solace in food, familiarity, and memory.
Talking about death is never easy, but with food, comfort, and familiarity, a new kind of dinner party is making it easier.
Living in a society openly governed by force with those who have demonstrated their familiarity with it increases the danger.
Familiarity with search-engines helps, a strange quirk of working in this retro medium.
The difference is one of familiarity and choice not law or logic.
Historical Examples
There was no familiarity of manner there; the clerks liked him, but they had to defer to him and obey him.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
And his carelessness might have been due to the familiarity of the trail to the pool.
White FangJack London
Just a touch of familiarity was the sole indication that we were not grown men.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
I had often called her by her Christian name, but she had never accepted the familiarity.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
In order to prove this, let us consider the evils produced by this familiarity.
The History of LouisianaLe Page Du Pratz
familiarity
- reasonable knowledge or acquaintance, as with a subject or place
- close acquaintanceship or intimacy
- undue intimacy
- (sometimes plural) an instance of unwarranted intimacy
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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
Word Origin and History for familiarity
n.
c.1200, from Old French familiarite and directly from Latin familiaritatem (nominative familiaritas) "intimacy, friendship," from familiaris "friendly, intimate" (see familiar). Meaning "undue intimacy" is from late 14c. That of "close acquaintance" is from c.1600.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper