Family
['fæmɪlɪ;-m(ə)l-] or ['fæməli]
Definition
(noun.) primary social group; parents and children; 'he wanted to have a good job before starting a family'.
(noun.) people descended from a common ancestor; 'his family has lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower'.
(noun.) a social unit living together; 'he moved his family to Virginia'; 'It was a good Christian household'; 'I waited until the whole house was asleep'; 'the teacher asked how many people made up his home'.
(noun.) (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera; 'sharks belong to the fish family'.
(noun.) an association of people who share common beliefs or activities; 'the message was addressed not just to employees but to every member of the company family'; 'the church welcomed new members into its fellowship'.
Typed by Damian--From WordNet
Definition
(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.
(v. t.) The group comprising a husband and wife and their dependent children, constituting a fundamental unit in the organization of society.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) Course of descent; genealogy; line of ancestors; lineage.
(v. t.) Honorable descent; noble or respectable stock; as, a man of family.
(v. t.) A group of kindred or closely related individuals; as, a family of languages; a family of States; the chlorine family.
(v. t.) 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.
Editor: Paula
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Household.[2]. Lineage, race, tribe, clan, kindred, house, line of ancestors.[3]. Order, group of genera.
Checker: Neil
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See_FAMILIAR]
Checker: Nicole
Definition
n. the household or all those who live in one house under one head including parents children servants: the children of a person: the descendants of one common progenitor: race: honourable or noble descent: a group of animals plants languages &c. more comprehensive than a genus.—ns. Fam′ilism the family feeling; Fam′ilist one of the 16th-cent. mystical sect known as the Family of Love which based religion upon love independently of faith.—Family Bible a large Bible for family worship with a page for recording family events; Family coach a large carriage able to carry a whole family; Family man a man with a family: a domesticated man.—Be in the family way to be pregnant; In a family way in a domestic manner.
Typed by Doreen
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of one's family as harmonious and happy, is significant of health and easy circumstances; but if there is sickness or contentions, it forebodes gloom and disappointment.
Checked by Lilith
Unserious Contents or Definition
Originally a wife and several children, a matter of pride to the possessor. Now obsolete among the careful, or confined to the wife, a bull pup and a canary bird.
Inputed by Dustin
Examples
- The tribe was a big family; the nation a group of tribal families; a household often contained hundreds of people. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Miss Vye's family is a good one on her mother's side; and her father was a romantic wanderer--a sort of Greek Ulysses. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- You made a quiet little round game of it, among a family group, and you played it out at leisure. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It is curious that my mother, too, ran away from her family, but not for the sake of her husband. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I cordially invite you, sir, to second my efforts in the sacred interests of the family. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The family don't want her here, and they'll say it's because I've been ill, because I'm a weak old woman, that she's persuaded me. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- It is called the Indo-European or ARYAN family. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In the service I mentally insert Miss Shepherd's name--I put her in among the Royal Family. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I happen to know that he paid seven hundred pounds to a footman for a note two lines in length, and that the ruin of a noble family was the result. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- We have turned our attention to that experiment, on the suggestion of my family, and we find it fallacious. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Mr Sampson murmured that this was the sort of thing you might expect from one who had ever in her own family been an example and never an outrage. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Secondly, In Pennsylvania there is no right of primogeniture, and lands, like moveables, are divided equally among all the children of the family. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- What a wrong, to cut off the girl from the family protection and inheritance only because she had chosen a man who was poor! George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I am less unfit to teach in a school than in a family. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Superiority of birth supposes an ancient superiority of fortune in the family of the person who claims it. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The tribe was a big family; the nation a group of tribal families; a household often contained hundreds of people. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- He once said that he was educated in a university where all the students belonged to families of the aristocracy; and the highest class in the university all wore little red caps. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- In most families there comes, now and then, a year full of events. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- An undue love of Self leads to the most monstrous crimes and occasions the greatest misfortunes both in States and Families. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- This invention is practically a gift to the workingmen of the world and their families. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- V ARKWRIGHT AND THE SPINNING-JENNY 1732-1792 All the great English inventors have sprung from families of small means, and have had to work for their living. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- At least in some families, Rebecca continued. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I am sure we are constantly hearing, ma'am, till it becomes quite nauseous, concerning their wives and families,' said Bitzer. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- They say that there are some families almost starving to death in Briarfield. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But I must not shrink from a professional duty, even if it sows dissensions in families. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- There were families in London who would have sacrificed a year's income to receive such an honour at the hands of those great ladies. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Miserliness is a capital quality to run in families; it's the safe side for madness to dip on. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- A degree or two lower, and a creditable appearance might interest me; I might hope to be useful to their families in some way or other. Jane Austen. Emma.
- The elder De Candolle has made nearly similar observations on the general nature of the affinities of distinct families of plants. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The regular and best families Emma could hardly suppose they would presume to inviteneither Donwell, nor Hartfield, nor Randalls. Jane Austen. Emma.
Edited by Daniel