noun pl. families -·lies

1. Obsolete all the people living in the same house; household
2. 1. a social unit consisting of parents and the children they rear
   2. the children of the same parents
   3. one's husband (or wife) and children
3. a group of people related by ancestry or marriage; relatives
4. all those claiming descent from a common ancestor; tribe or clan; lineage
5. a criminal syndicate under a single leader a Mafia family
6. a commune (sense ) living in one household, esp. under one head
7. a group of things having a common source or similar features; specif.,
   1. Biol. a major category in the classification of animals, plants, etc., ranking above a genus and below an order: it can include one genus or many similar genera: the Latinized family names are capitalized but not italicized (Ex.: Felidae, cats)
   2. Chem. a group of chemical elements having similar properties, forming one of the vertical columns of the periodic table
   3. Ecol. a community composed of organisms of the same species
   4. Linguis. a parent language and all the languages and dialects descended from it
   5. Math. a set of curves, functions, or other entities with some shared property

Etymology: ME familie < L familia, household establishment, akin to famulus, servant < ? IE *dhe-mo-, house (< base *dhē-: see do) > Sans dhāman, household

adjective

1. of or for a family a family picnic, the family car
2. characteristic of or suitable for a family, esp. one regarded as traditional or typical; wholesome, middle-class, etc. family entertainment, family values