Family
Family , noun
[Latin familia, from famulus servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, compare faamat he dwells, Sanskrit dhāman house, from dhāto set, make, do: compare French famille. Compare Do, transitive verb, Doom, Fact, Feat.]
1.
The collective body of persons who live in one house, and under one head or manager; a household, including parents, children, and servants, and, as the case may be, lodgers or boarders.
2.
The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.
The welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society.
3.
Those who descend from one common progenitor; a tribe, clan, or race; kindred; house; as, the human family; the family of Abraham; the father of a family.
Go! and pretend your family is young.
4.
Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
5.
Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
6.
A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
7.
(Biology) A group of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In Zoology a family is less comprehesive than an order; in botany it is often considered the same thing as an order.
Collocations (5)
Family circle , See under Circle.
Family man , (a) A man who has a family; esp., one who has a wife and children living with him and dependent upon him. (b) A man of domestic habits. The Jews are generally, when married, most exemplary family men.
Family of curves or Family of surfaces (Geometry) , a group of curves or surfaces derived from a single equation.
In a family way , like one belonging to the family. Why don't we ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way, and dine with some other plain country gentlefolks?
In the family way , pregnant. [Colloquial euphemism]