FAMILY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Family

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/fˈæməli/ /fˈæmli/ Listen

noun

Family n. (pl. families)

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.

(Biol.) 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.

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 (Geom.), 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. (Colloq. euphemism)

See images of 'Family'

Etymology of 'Family'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Family" Quotes from Famous Books

... to offer themselves to men.[1942] The service in ancient times was not regarded as degrading; on the contrary, maidens of the noblest families were sometimes so dedicated, and the role of devotee might be continued in a family for generations.[1943] Such service was sometimes a necessary preliminary to marriage. This seems to be the case in the custom reported by Herodotus[1944] that every native Babylonian woman had, once in her life, to sit in the temple ...

— Introduction to the History of Religions - Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV • Crawford Howell Toy

... was, nevertheless, a fact that it did. He expected momentarily that his theft would be detected and that he would be thrown into prison, and the fear of the actual arrest, the moment of public ignominy, the shock and agony of his wife and family, were what drove him sleepless into the streets, and every evening to the theatres to try to forget what must inevitably come; but the fact that he had "gone wrong," that he was a thief, that he had betrayed his trust, had lost its edge. He now ...

— True Stories of Crime From the District Attorney's Office • Arthur Train

... seneschal,—a matter in which the young prince took some blame to himself, as having unintentionally drawn upon that excellent servant his unhappy fate. "The seneschal," said the writer, "was the faithful friend of my family, and knew the whole course of its misfortunes. He continued his abode at the schloss, to serve my interest; and in some measure I may fear that I drew upon him his fate. Traversing late one evening a suite of rooms, which his assistance and my ...

— Memorials and Other Papers • Thomas de Quincey

... plum, takes its name from Damascus, where it grows in great quantities, and whence it was brought into Italy about 114 B.C. The Orleans plum is from France. The Greengage is called after the Gage family, who first brought it into England from the monastery of the Chartreuse, at Paris, where it still bears the name of Reine Claude. The Magnum-bonum is our largest plum, and greatly esteemed for preserves and culinary purposes. The best sorts of plums are agreeable at the ...

— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... attitude that she is ashamed of the sources of her origin; a father and a mother visibly proud of their offspring's successful rise, yet uncomplainingly accepting the roles to which she has assigned them—there you have this small family tragedy in forty words ...

— Sundry Accounts • Irvin S. Cobb

Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com