[fam.i.ly] n, pl -lies [ME familie, fr. L familia household (including servants as well as kin of the householder), fr. famulus servant] (15c) 1: a group of individuals living under one roof and usu. under one head: household
2. a: a group of persons of common ancestry: clan b: a people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from a common stock: race 3 a: a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation: fellowship b: the staff of a high official (as the President)
4: a group of things related by common characteristics: as a: a closely related series of elements or chemical compounds b: a group of soils that have similar profiles and include one or more series c: a group of related languages descended from a single ancestral language
5. a: the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children; also: any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family "a single-parent ~" b: spouse and children "want to spend more time with my ~"
6. a: a group of related plants or animals forming a category ranking above a genus and below an order and usu. comprising several to many genera b in livestock breeding (1): the descendants or line of a particular individual esp. of some outstanding female (2): an identifiable strain within a breed 7: a set of curves or surfaces whose equations differ only in parameters 8: a unit of a crime syndicate (as the Mafia) operating within a geographical area
[2]family adj (1602) 1: of or relating to a family
2: designed or suitable for both children and adults "~ restaurants" "~ movies"