I. fa ‧ mil ‧ i ‧ ar 1 S3 W2 /fəˈmɪliə $ -ər/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ familiarity ≠ ↑ unfamiliarity , ↑ family , ↑ familiarization ; adjective : ↑ familiar ≠ ↑ unfamiliar , ↑ familial ; verb : ↑ familiarize ; adverb : ↑ familiarly ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: familier , from Latin familia ; ⇨ ↑ family ]
1 . someone or something that is familiar is well-known to you and easy to recognize:
a familiar tune
look/sound familiar
The voice on the phone sounded familiar.
familiar to
The signs of drug addiction are familiar to most doctors.
It was a relief to be back in familiar surroundings.
Beggars on the street are becoming a familiar sight.
This kind of situation was all too familiar (=very familiar) to John.
Her face seems vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place her.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people often say that they know something rather than saying it is familiar :
▪ The name of the restaurant was not familiar to me. ➔ I didn't know the name of the restaurant.
2 . be familiar with something to have a good knowledge or understanding of something:
Are you familiar with this type of machine?
I’m not familiar with her poetry.
3 . be on familiar terms with somebody to know someone well and be able to talk to them in an informal way:
He’s on familiar terms with all the teachers.
4 . talking to someone as if you know them well although you do not
familiar with
I thought he was being a bit familiar with my wife.
5 . informal and friendly in speech, writing etc:
The novel is written in an easy familiar style.
⇨ ↑ familiarly
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THESAURUS
▪ be familiar with something to have a good knowledge or understanding of something, because you have used it, read about it etc before:
Before the interview, make sure you are familiar with the company’s main products.
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It will take a little while to become familiar with the new software.
▪ be used to something ( also be accustomed to something formal ) to have experienced something before, so that it no longer seems surprising, difficult, strange etc:
I’m used to eating spicy food.
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Jay found the job hard to begin with, but he soon got used to it.
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Consumers have grown accustomed (=become accustomed) to having a lot of choice.
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Our staff are accustomed to dealing with the needs of foreign clients.
▪ be at home with something to feel happy and confident about doing or using something, especially because you have had a lot of practice:
Tom’s lived in Moscow for 20 years and he’s completely at home with the language.
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It takes a few weeks for people to feel at home with the system.
▪ be comfortable with something/somebody to feel relaxed and not worried about doing something or being with someone:
We’re all becoming increasingly comfortable with buying things online.
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The activities are intended to help new students feel more comfortable with each other..
II. familiar 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a cat or other animal that lives with a ↑ witch and has magical powers