family

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A group of people connected by blood, marriage, or adoption, especially parents and their children living together.

   Grammar: Takes a singular or plural verb in British English (my family is/are well); American English prefers singular.

   Patterns

   • a family of four
   • start a family

   Her family moved to Canada when she was six.

   They want to start a family next year.

   The whole family gathered for the holiday.

2. 2noununcountable

   Your relatives, including those who live elsewhere.

   Grammar: Used without 'a' when meaning relatives in general: family is important to him.

   Patterns

   • in the family
   • family and friends

   Family and friends came to the wedding.

   Music runs in the family.

   He keeps in touch with family overseas.

3. 3nouncountablebiology

   A group of related things, such as plants, animals, languages, or products.

   Grammar: Often followed by of: a family of languages, the cat family.

   Patterns

   • a family of something
   • belong to the family

   Lions belong to the cat family.

   Spanish and Italian are in the same language family.

   The company released a new family of laptops.

4. 4nouncountablefigurative

   A close group of people who support each other like relatives.

   Grammar: Used figuratively: the team feels like a family.

   Patterns

   • feel like family
   • a work family

   The staff at the cafe are like a family.

   After years together, the band felt like family.

   She calls her neighbors her second family.

Word forms

Common combinations

immediate family

Only the immediate family attended the funeral.

extended family

Her extended family lives in several countries.

family tree

He traced the family tree back to the 1700s.

family doctor

Their family doctor has known them for years.

start a family

The couple decided to start a family.

single-parent family

She grew up in a single-parent family.

Synonyms and how they differ

relatives

Relatives names the individual people connected to you, while family also describes the group as a unit.

household

Household means everyone living at one address and need not be related, unlike family.

kin

Kin is formal or old-fashioned and stresses blood relationship.

clan

A clan is a large group of families sharing an ancestor, so it is larger than a typical family.

Opposites

Word family

familial adjective

relating to a family

familiar adjective

well known

familiarity noun

knowledge of or closeness to something

family-friendly adjective

suitable for all members of a family

Commonly confused: family or familiar?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “family”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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