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family - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'family' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Family [ v. t.]
- 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.
- The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.
- 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.
- Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
- Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
- A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
- 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.

Meaning of 'family' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . family [ n]
Meaning (1):
- a social unit living together
Example in sentence:
  • he moved his family to Virginia;
  • I waited until the whole house was asleep;
  • It was a good Christian household;
  • the family refused to accept his will;
  • the teacher asked how many people made up his home
Meaning (2):
- primary social group; parents and children
Example in sentence:
  • he wanted to have a good job before starting a family
Meaning (3):
- a person having kinship with another or others
Example in sentence:
  • he's family;
  • he's kin
Meaning (4):
- people descended from a common ancestor
Example in sentence:
  • his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower
Meaning (5):
- (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera
Example in sentence:
  • sharks belong to the fish family
Meaning (6):
- an association of people who share common beliefs or activities
Example in sentence:
  • the church welcomed new members into its fellowship;
  • the message was addressed not just to employees but to every member of the company family
Meaning (7):
- a collection of things sharing a common attribute
Example in sentence:
  • there are two classes of detergents

Nearby Words:

famble fame famed fameless familiar familiarities familiarity familiarization familiarize familiarized

See 'family' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Immediate Family
    The closest family unit of a person is termed as the Immediate Family which includes parents, siblings, spouse, and children.
  • Family purpose doctrine
    Family purpose doctrine is a concept that imputes negligence committed by immediate family members while operating a family car
  • Family-Driven Care
    Family-Driven Care is in mental health, a model in which families have a primary decision-making role in the care of their own children.
  • Family Resource Centers
    Family Resource Centers is the facilities housed on four Fort Worth Independent School District campuses that provide mental health care
  • Open-lineage family
    Open-lineage family is a family system found in pre-industrial Europe in which family relationships are closely intertwined with the local community.
  • Nuclear family
    Nuclear family is a basic family group living separately from other relatives and consisting of two parents and their dependent children.
  • Family of orientation
    Family of orientation is the family into which an individual is born and socialized.
  • Family of procreation
    Family of procreation is the family an individual creates when children are born or adopted .
  • Dual-career family
    Dual-career family is a family in which both spouses are in the outside labour force.
  • Blended family
    Blended family (also called “step family”) is a family consisting of two adults, both with children from previous relationships, plus their children.

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