family Bible

American  

noun

1. a large Bible usually having pages at the front for recording the marriages, births, and deaths in a family.

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family Bible British  

noun

1. a large Bible used for family worship in which births, marriages, and deaths are recorded

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Etymology

Origin of family Bible

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Jones is equally adept at the delicate prose, as in this description of a well-worn family Bible: “The paper, thin as butterfly wings, was heavy with wisdom.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026

Former Vice President Mike Pence often talks of how he “joined the Reagan revolution and never looked back,” and took his oath with his hand on the Reagan family Bible.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 26, 2023

Sheridan's track record leads me to guess that most people will trust that the scattered plot of "1923" will eventually knot into a story worth noting in the Dutton family Bible.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2022

Among the flood’s victims: the family Bible and a first edition of Izaak Walton’s biography of John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Richard Hooker and George Herbert.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2021

The family Bible and a huge dictionary with its own magnifying glass lay side by side next to a red plush album full of cramped formal portraits of my ancestors.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly