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n. pl. fam·i·lies 1. a. A fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children. b. The children of one of these groups: She raised a large family. c. A group of persons related by descent or marriage: My whole family, including my cousins, gets together once a year. See Usage Note at collective noun. 2. People in the same line of descent; lineage: comes from an old Virginia family. 3. Obsolete All the members of a household living under one roof. 4. A locally independent organized crime unit, as of the Cosa Nostra. 5. a. A group of like things; a class: the family of brass instruments. b. A group of individuals derived from a common stock: the family of human beings. 6. Biology A taxonomic category of related organisms ranking below an order and above a genus. A family usually consists of several genera. 7. Linguistics A group of languages descended from the same parent language, such as the Indo-European language family. 8. Mathematics A set of functions or surfaces that can be generated by varying the parameters of a general equation. 9. Chemistry a. A group of elements with similar chemical properties. b. A vertical column in the periodic table of elements. 10. Physics Any of the three generations of elementary fermions. adj. Idiom: 1. Of or having to do with a family: family problems. 2. Being suitable for a family: family movies. in the family way Pregnant. [Middle English familie, from Latin familia, household, servants of a household, from famulus, servant.] |
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