1treated as singular or plural A group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit.

1. 1.1 A group of people related by blood or marriage.
   friends and family can provide support

   I could not turn him away, for he was family

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Hampshire police is also providing support to the families of people who have been affected by the disaster.
   • The couple told their families that they planned to marry, although no definite plans had been made.
   • The couple's families were surprised at the union, but Imran and Jemima married in the summer of 1996.
   • Sincere sympathy is extended to all the families, relatives and friends of the deceased.
   • The happy couple tied the knot in the Holy Family Church and this was a very special occasion for the couple and their families.
   • Inquiries are still ongoing into the deaths just over a week ago, and the couple's families are still struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
   • They must find support from their families and friends to deal with the stress, anger, and fear they experience.
   • Their home was a very happy place, which family, relatives and friends loved to visit.
   • But the couple's families may never know what turned Richard Mace into a killer before taking his own life.
   • They also wanted to thank the media and friends and family who had supported their struggle to have their son released.
   • You are asked to encourage as many of your friends and family to donate blood.
   • Six months on and the case has disappeared from the news, leaving the couple's families to try to rebuild their lives.
   • Al Anon offers understanding, help and support to families and friends of problem drinkers in a confidential manner.
   • What matters most is that their close families and friends fully support their marriages.
   • He encouraged everyone to put pressure on family, relatives and friends to turn out.
   • The family of the couple packed the court to see Oakley change his plea at the 11 th hour.
   • But we have had a lot of encouragement, we have friends and families coming out to support us, and we know we have the backing at home.
   • As the cause of death was read out, friends and family supported each other in their loss.
   • Thank you to all the friends and family for all the support, whether it was food or condolences.
   • Burial took place before a very large gathering of family, relatives and friends.

   Synonyms

   relatives, relations, blood relations, family members, kin, next of kin, kinsfolk, kinsmen, kinswomen, kindred, one's (own) flesh and blood, connections

   extended family

   clan, tribe

   informal folks, nearest and dearest

   dated people
2. 1.2 The children of a person or couple being discussed.
   she has the sole responsibility for a large family

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Couples with families might see more benefit in suburbs, or dormitory towns.
   • The property is not suitable for large families so the target market when trying to sell it is that of the first-time buyers and couples with young families.
   • Several meals out have been lavishly enjoyed by the couple and their family at this stage!
   • Every success in the future on this new venture to the couple and their family.
   • In the meantime, my college friends have embarked on their careers, marriages and families at home.
   • Couples desperate to start families come from across the North of England for fertility treatment in Leeds.

   Synonyms

   children, little ones, youngsters

   offspring, progeny, descendants, scions, heirs

   brood

   informal kids, kiddies, kiddiewinks, tots, sprogs, quiverful

   Law issue
3. 1.3informal A local organizational unit of the Mafia or other large criminal group.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • A county Kildare woman has this week begun working for one of the most notorious criminal families in the country.
   • The Feo family are that dying breed of huge mafia families with all the fighting and the stresses of seven very different people living in the same house.
   • We're talking about New York, where you'd have Mafia families fighting each other.
   • The Kahn family were a sort of mafia family, in charge of organized crime and such.
   • Some of the mafia families have employed archaeologists to work directly for them, after making them an offer that they can't refuse.

2All the descendants of a common ancestor.

1. 2.1 A group of peoples from a common stock.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The sentimentality has less to do with politics, and more with nationhood and the great family of Germany.
   • That is the way towards building a new Scotland, fit and ready to play its full part in the European family of nations.
   • There is no need to talk to understand the longing they feel for a new role in the European family of nations.

   Synonyms

   variety, stock, strain, line

3A group of related things.

1. 3.1Biology A principal taxonomic category that ranks above genus and below order, usually ending in -idae (in zoology) or -aceae (in botany)
   the cabbage family

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Currently, little is known about relationships among families and genera of cavioid rodents.
   • The two species belong to very different taxonomic families.
   • In addition, honeyeaters are known to forage on a range of plant families, genera and species at any one time, and do not rely on a single plant species for food.
   • We measured skull length because it is often taken as a measure of size, particularly within genera or families.
   • Two families and nine genera are known, although some of these latter are may turn out to be junior synonyms.
   • Woodiness in Apiaceae is rare, as woody species are found in only ten of the 400 or so genera in the family.
   • Their studies resulted in a profusion of new families, genera, and species.
   • The family consists of four genera, one of which is the Norwalk-like viruses.
   • The latter two families contain a single genus each that include one and three species, respectively.
   • Like the campanula family, the geranium genus is very large with the pratenses forming only a small part of the whole.
   • It takes time to learn so many new families, genera, and species.
   • This group contains four retroposon families representing three genera of culicines.
   • According to Tralau, the order Ginkgoales consists of six families and 19 genera.
   • Most authors agree in assigning a basal position in the family to both genera.
   • The common names of these berries are confusing and sometimes overlap with those of berries in other genera or families.
   • The simulated taxa can be seen as analogous to genera or families, the usual focus of diversity studies.
   • In genera of several families, species have been identified that possess no or no fully developed C 4 cycle.
   • If one denies paraphyletic taxa, where do genera and families come from?
   • Later, Spencer recognized two new orders and three new suborders for the Paleozoic families.
   • The families, genera, and species are alphabetically arranged within each group.

   Synonyms

   taxonomic group, group, order, class, subclass, genus, species

   stock, strain, line

   technical taxon, phylum
2. 3.2 All the languages ultimately derived from a particular early language, regarded as a group.
   the Austronesian language family

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Hmong-Mien is one of the major language families spoken in southern China and Southeast Asia.
   • The basic category historical linguistics deals with is that of the language family.
   • Austronesian languages, like other language families, are very different from Indo-European.
   • We know that because we know those language families well, they have long written records.
   • Language families and subfamilies are indicated on the branches of the tree.
3. 3.3Mathematics A group of curves or surfaces obtained by varying the value of a constant in the equation generating them.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Infinite families of cyclic Steiner triple systems and Room squares are constructed [in the papers].
   • We have developed galleries of animations that can be used by instructors at various levels to enhance the idea of families of curves and graphs and how the members of the family change when certain parameters are varied.
   • Families of curves arise, for example, in the solutions to differential equations with a free parameter.

attributive Designed to be suitable for children as well as adults.