n.
(pl. families)
-
[treated as sing. or pl.]
a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit.
▸a group of people related by blood or marriage.
▸the children of a person or couple.
- all the descendants of a common ancestor.
- a group of related things.
▸Biology a principal taxonomic category ranking above genus and below order.
▸all the languages ultimately derived from a particular early language, regarded as a group.
adj.
suitable for children as well as adults.
Phrase
- in the family way
informal pregnant.
Derivative
- familial
/fəˈmɪljəl/
adj.
Etymology
ME: from L. familia ‘household servants, family’, from famulus ‘servant’.
