FAMILY

I. noun (plural -lies) Etymology: Middle English familie, from Latin familia household (including servants as well as kin of the householder), from famulus servant Date: 15th century a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head ; household , 2. a group of persons of common ancestry ; clan , a people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from a common stock ; race , 3. a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation ; fellowship , the staff of a high official (as the President), a group of things related by common characteristics: as, a closely related series of elements or chemical compounds, a group of soils with similar chemical and physical properties (as texture, pH, and mineral content) that comprise a category ranking above the series and below the subgroup in soil classification, a group of related languages descended from a single ancestral language, 5. the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children, spouse and children , 6. a group of related plants or animals forming a category ranking above a genus and below an order and usually comprising several to many genera, b. in livestock breeding the descendants or line of a particular individual especially of some outstanding female, an identifiable strain within a breed, a set of curves or surfaces whose equations differ only in parameters, a unit of a crime syndicate (as the Mafia) operating within a geographical area, ~hood noun II. adjective Date: 1602 of or relating to a ~, designed or suitable for both children and adults