Family : (noun)
1: 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" [syn: household,
house, home, menage]
2: primary social group; parents and children; "he wanted to
have a good job before starting a family" [syn: family
unit]
3: people descended from a common ancestor; "his family has
lived in Massachusetts since the Mayflower" [syn: family
line, folk, kinfolk, kinsfolk, sept, phratry]
4: a collection of things sharing a common attribute; "there
are two classes of detergents" [syn: class, category]
5: 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" [syn: fellowship]
6: (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera;
"sharks belong to the fish family"
7: a person having kinship with another or others; "he's kin";
"he's family" [syn: kin, kinsperson]
8: a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized
criminal activities [syn: syndicate, crime syndicate,
mob]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Family : \Fam"i*ly\, n.; pl. Families. [L. familia, fr. famulus
servant; akin to Oscan famel servant, cf. faamat he dwells,
Skr. dh[=a]man house, fr. dh[=a]to set, make, do: cf. F.
famille. Cf. Do, v. t., Doom, Fact, Feat.]
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. --H. Spencer.
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. --Pope.
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 zo["o]logy 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 andd dependent upon him.
(b) A man of domestic habits. ``The Jews are generally,
when married, most exemplary family men.'' --Mayhew.
Family of curves or 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?''
--Thackeray.
In the family way, pregnant. [Colloq.]
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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FAMILY, domestic relations. In a limited sense it signifies the father,
mother, and children. In a more extensive sense it comprehends all the
individuals who live under the authority of another, and includes the
servants of the family. It is also employed to signify all the relations who
descend from a common ancestor, or who spring from a common root. Louis.
Code, art. 3522, No. 16; 9 Ves. 323.
2. In the construction of wills, the word family, when applied to
personal property is synonymous with kindred, or relations. It may,
nevertheless, be confined to particular relations by the context of the
will, or may be enlarged by it, so that the expression may in some cases
mean children, or next of kin, and in others, may even include relations by
marriage. 1 Rop. on Leg. 115 1 Hov. Supp. 365, notes, 6 and 7; Brown v.
Higgs; 4 Ves. 708; 2 Ves. jr. 110; 3 East, Rep. 172 5 Ves. 156 1,7 Ves. 255
S. 126. Vide article Legatee. See Dig. lib. 50, t. 16, 1. 195, s. 2.
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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Family : Family: 1. A group of individuals related by blood or marriage or by a feeling of closeness. 2. A biological classification of related plants or animals that is a division below
the order and above the genus. 3. A group of genes related in structure and in function that descended from an ancestral gene. 4. A group of gene products similarly related in structure
and function and of shared genetic descent. 5. Parents and their children. The most fundamental social group in humans.
Based on Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [Bouvier_Law_Dictionary]:
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