first family

American  

noun

1. a family having the highest or one of the highest social ranks in a given place.

2. (often initial capital letters) the family of the president of the U.S. or the family of the governor of a state.

3. a family descended from a colonist or early settler in a country, region, etc..

   one of the first families of Virginia.

---

Etymology

Origin of first family

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

Nvidia unveiled what it dubbed the world’s first family of open-source models designed to help researchers build quantum processors.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

There is footage of the highly choreographed move-in and move-out process that happens every four years when a new first family moves into the White House.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

Being a counselor at the camp amounts to enrolling in football graduate school and learning directly from the first family of football—Archie, Peyton and Eli.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

Studio executives continuing to insist on that nonsense deserve Marvel’s first family to give them a disappointed talking-to, and send them to back their boardrooms without supper..

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025

Piper remembered what Hercules had told them: his first family dead, his second wife dead after being tricked into poisoning him.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan