See Also: Family(health)
family man(dictionary)
family name(dictionary)
rue family(encyclopedia)
family(encyclopedia)
family(dictionary)
first family(dictionary)
family(dictionary)
Immediate family(finance)
Family Law(law)

family (iou)



family noun & adjective. LME.
[Latin familia household, from famulus servant: see -Y3.]
A. noun.
I. Of people or animals.
a. The servants of a house or establishment; the retinue of a nobleman etc. Now arch. or Hist. LME.
b. The staff of a high-ranking military officer or State official. E19.
The descendants of a common ancestor; a house, a lineage. LME.
Day Lewis I am of Anglo-Irish stock on both sides of my family.
b. A race; a people assumed to be descended from a common stock. L16.
A group of people living as one household, including parents and their children, boarders, servants, etc.; such a group as an organizational unit of society. E16.
extended family, joint family, nuclear family, single-parent family, etc.
A. Powell The French family with whom I was to stay.
A group of individuals or nations bound together by political or religious ties or other ties of interest. L16.
b. (The members of) a local organizational unit of the Mafia. colloq. M20.
The group of people consisting of one set of parents and their children, whether living together or not; any group of people connected by blood or other relationship; a pair of animals and their young. M17.
A. Hecht Though they mean only good, Families can become a sort of burden.
A person's children regarded collectively; a set of offspring. M17.
L. Strachey By her he had a large family of sons and daughters.
II. Of things.
gen. A group of things significantly connected by common features. E17.
Computing Equipment A family of hard disk sub-systems.
Biology. A basic taxonomic grouping ranking above genus and below order. M18.
Anthony Huxley Orchids from one of the largest of plant families.
A group of languages consisting of all those ultimately derived from one early language. M18.
Math. A group of curves etc. obtained by varying one quantity. M18.
A group of musical instruments with the same fundamental method of sound-production. M19.
Phrases: Family of Love Hist. a sect which gained many adherents in England in the 16th and 17th cents., and which stressed the importance of love and held that absolute obedience was due to all governments. happy families, happy family: see HAPPY adjective. Holy Family: see HOLY adjective. in a family way in a domestic manner; informally. in the family way colloq. pregnant. of family, of good family descended from noble or worthy ancestors. start a family: see START verb. the family slang the criminal community.
b. attrib. or as adjective. Of or pertaining to the family or a particular family; intended for families; suitable for families or all the family. E17.
J. B. Priestley Without the impudent indecencies, and so entirely suitable for family entertainment. M. B. Brown A general lack of initiative in third- and fourth-generation family firms. Rolling Stone Because I was Jewish, I was also family. A. Clare A family history of alcoholism. TV Guide (Canada) The family dog disappears.
Comb. & special collocations: family allowance, family benefit: paid by the State or an employer to a parent or guardian of a child; family bible a bible used at family prayers and often having space for registering family births, deaths, etc., on its flyleaves; family butcher: concentrating on supplying meat to families rather than to institutions etc.; family circle (a) the company of people making up a family and its closest friends; (b) a gallery in a theatre etc. above the dress circle; family credit = family income supplement below; Family Division a division of the High Court dealing with adoption, divorce, and other family matters; family doctor a general practitioner, normally consulted by, and often regarded also as a friend of, a family; family hotel a hotel with special facilities or terms for families; family income supplement in Britain, a regular payment by the State to a family with an income below a certain level; family likeness a resemblance between members of the same family; family living Ecclesiastical a benefice in the gift of the head of a family; family man a man with a family; a man who spends much time with his family; family name a surname; a name traditionally given to members of a family; family planning birth control, contraception; family portrait a portrait of a member of a family; family room N. Amer. a living- or recreation room commonly used by all members of a family; family skeleton a secret source of pain or shame to a family; family therapy a form of psychotherapy in which a patient is interviewed together with members of his or her family, some or all of whom may also subsequently be treated; family-tree a genealogical diagram tracing the generations of a family; a diagram tracing the relationships of languages of the same family; family values values supposedly learned or reinforced within a traditional, close, family unit, typically those of high moral standards and discipline.