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   family

   /ˈfam(ɪ)li/

   noun

   • 1. a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit: "the family lived in a large house with a lot of land" Similar householdménagenuclear familyinformal:brood
   • ▪ a group of people related by blood or marriage: "friends and family can provide support" Similar relativesrelationsblood relationsfamily memberskinnext of kinkinsfolkkinsmenkinswomenkindredone's (own) flesh and bloodconnectionsextended familyclantribeinformal:famfolksnearest and dearestdated:people
   • ▪ the children of a person or couple being discussed: "she has the sole responsibility for a large family" Similar childrenlittle onesyoungstersoffspringprogenydescendantsscionsheirsbroodinformal:kidskiddieskiddiewinkstotssprogsquiverfulissue
   • ▪ a local organizational unit of the Mafia or other large criminal group. informal
   • 2. all the descendants of a common ancestor: "the house has been owned by the same family for 300 years" Similar ancestryparentagebirthpedigreegenealogybackgroundfamily treedescentlineagelineline of descentbloodlinebloodextractionderivationracestrainstockbreeddynastyhouseforebearsforefathersantecedentsprogenitorsrootsoriginsrare:filiationstirps
   • ▪ a group of peoples from a common stock.
   • 3. a group of related things: "all manuscripts that share this reading constitute a family"
   • ▪ a principal taxonomic category that ranks above genus and below order, usually ending in -idae (in zoology) or -aceae (in botany): "the cabbage family" Similar taxonomic groupgrouporderclasssubclassgenusspeciesstockstrainlinetechnical:taxonphylum
   • ▪ all the languages ultimately derived from a particular early language, regarded as a group: "the Austronesian language family"
   • ▪ a group of curves or surfaces obtained by varying the value of a constant in the equation generating them.

   adjective

   • 1. designed to be suitable for children as well as adults: "a family newspaper"

   Word Origin late Middle English (in family (sense 2 of the noun); also denoting the servants of a household or the retinue of a nobleman): from Latin familia ‘household servants, family’, from famulus ‘servant’.

   Scrabble Points: 14

   • F

     4

   • A

     1

   • M

     3

   • I

     1

   • L

     1

   • Y

     4

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